University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
McDonald Advances to NCAA Round of 16
May 26, 2016 | Men's Tennis
TULSA, Okla. – Sixth-ranked Mackenzie McDonald dispatched Notre Dame's Quentin Monaghan (No. 35) in the round of 32 on Thursday morning. With the straight-set win, the Bruin advances to the round of 16 at the NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Singles Championship in Tulsa.Â
Trailing 3-2 in the first set after being broken by Monaghan, McDonald hit a net cord winner to break back and even the score at 3-3. Â At 4-4 deuce, McDonald ripped an ace up the middle to take a 5-4 lead. McDonald dictated the pace on his first set point, drilling a forehand down the line to break Monaghan and win the set, 6-4.Â
In the second set, McDonald broke Monaghan to take an early 2-0 lead. He then broke again at 4-1 to serve for the match, leading his opponent 6-4, 5-1. At 40-0, McDonald bombed an ace up the middle to take the match in straights.Â
"I thought today was good," said McDonald of the win. "A straight-set victory—I'll take it. I did what I needed to do today, and that's what matters.  I got the win, so I'm one step closer."
McDonald will face No. 13 Skander Mansouri (Wake Forest) in the Sweet 16 at 8 a.m. PDT on Friday. Â
On the other side of the bracket, No. 38 Martin Redlicki fell in a tight three setter to third-ranked Dominik Koepfer of Tulane. Koepfer double faulted to give Redlicki an early 2-0 lead in the first set.  At 3-0, Redlicki won a long cross-court rally to break Koepfer again and extend the lead to 4-0.  Up 5-1, Redlicki held at deuce to take the opening set 6-1.
Koepfer rallied in the second set, 6-3, to force a third. Tied at 2-2 in the final set, Koepfer broke Redlicki to go ahead 3-2.  Redlicki broke back at deuce to knot the score at 3-3. The Bruin then double faulted to give his opponent a 4-3 advantage. Unable to keep pace, Redlicki dropped the third set to Koepfer, 6-4.Â
Doubles action kicked off on Thursday afternoon. The second-ranked duo of McDonald and Redlicki faced No. 16 Thai-Son Kwiatkowski and Mac Styslinger of Virginia in the round of 32. The Bruin pair cruised to a 6-2 victory in the first set, but were challenged by the Cavalier duo in the second.  At 6-5, McDonald was broken to send it into the tiebreaker.  McDonald and Redlicki jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, taking the breaker 7-3.  Â
"We grew up playing with both of the guys we just played our whole life, and they have been among the top players in the country for the last three to four years," said Redlicki of the match. "We knew it was going to be tough, especially with these conditions, and we knew it was going to come down to who could execute more balls. I think we did a really good job of executing in the big moments, and I think that's what helped us get the win today."
Mackie/Marty advance to the NCAA Doubles Round of 16 with a 6-2, 7-6(3) victory over Kwiatkowski/Styslinger (UVA) pic.twitter.com/h9fMvJwB21
— UCLA Men's Tennis (@uclatennis) May 26, 2016
Singles play continues Friday, May 27, at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa. The doubles round of 16 takes place Friday as well. Live streaming/scoring is available here.
2016 NCAA Singles & Doubles Championship
May 25-30
Tulsa, Oklahoma (Michael D. Case Tennis Center)
Singles
Round of 64
No. 6 Mackenzie McDonald (UCLA) def. No. 42 Ryotaro Matasamura (Kentucky) 6-0, 6-2
No. 38 Martin Redlicki (UCLA) def. No. 50 Gergely Madarasz (Purdue), 6-2, 7-6(3)
Round of 32
No. 6Â Mackenzie McDonald (UCLA) def. No. 35 Quentin Monaghan (Notre Dame), 6-4, 6-1
No. 3 Dominik Koepfer (Tulane) def. No. 38 Martin Redlicki (UCLA), 1-6, 6-3, 6-4
Doubles
Round of 32
No. 2 McDonald/Redlicki (UCLA) def. No. 16 Kwiatkowski/Styslinger (UVA), 6-2, 7-6(3)
