Successful Week for UCLA Tennis Alums
September 28, 2015 | Men's Tennis
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Former UCLA men's tennis player Dennis Novikov won back-to-back ATP Challenger titles when he took down Ryan Harrison in the Columbus Challenger final on Sunday. Just one week after topping Harrison in straight sets in Cary, N.C., to capture his first Challenger title, Novikov prevailed, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, in Columbus.
“We've played each other twice now, and played each other close each time,” said Novikov of playing Harrison over consecutive weekends. “I knew it would be a battle. We know each other's games.
“I thought the first and second sets were pretty tight,” said Novikov of Sunday's match. “I got the first break point in the first and got a quick jump on him, and I thought that helped. In the second, I played a loose game. [In the third] I started to play a little more aggressively I think, after going a little too passively in the second. Other than that, I really didn't change much.”
With these back-to-back wins, Novikov is now ranked a career-high No. 144 on the ATP World Tour.
Here is a shot of @DennisNovikov with his new hardware! Congrats Dennis! #GoBruins #Ucla #tennis pic.twitter.com/vtYrBoBtz3
— UCLA Men's Tennis (@uclatennis) September 27, 2015
Another former Bruin also took home some hardware last weekend. Not dropping a set the entire tournament, Adrien Puget defeated Mohamed Safwat, 7-6(1), 6-0, at the Egypt F32 Futures in Cairo on Sunday.
“The first set was really tough; it was a battle,” said Puget. “I got broken at 5-5, but I broke back to push it to the breaker. And then I was able to pull it off. After that first tough set, I think he was really down mentally. I broke him the first game and then I saw that he was done.”
@lapuge wins Cairo, Egypt 15k, his 3rd futures title of the year and 2nd this month! Congrats Adrien! #GoBruins
— UCLA Men's Tennis (@uclatennis) September 27, 2015
This Week's Action...
Fresh off of winning the doubles title at the Costa Mesa Pro Classic on Saturday, Mackenzie McDonald and Martin Redlicki return to action for singles play this week.
First up, McDonald faces Frederik Nielsen of Denmark in the round of 32 at the ATP Tiburon Challenger on Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. Last time out, McDonald fell in the championship match of the Claremont Club Pro Classic to Deiton Baughman, a 19-year-old pro from Carson, Calif. In September, the UCLA junior captured the title at the American Collegiate Invitational at the U.S. Open.
Joining McDonald at the Tiburon Challenger is Novikov, looking to add another Challenger title.
Redlicki will hit the court on Wednesday at the Laguna Niguel USTA Pro Futures.
Players Mentioned
