UCLA
California
UCLA Hits Bay Area for First Pac-12 Road Trip
April 06, 2017 | Men's Tennis
LOS ANGELES -- The Bruins will look to build on a strong three weeks that has the team currently riding a five-match winning streak. The team's two most recent wins came to open Pac-12 play, which it did by blanking Washington, 4-0 (March 31) and squeaking past Oregon, 4-3 (April 1). Logan Staggs clinched each of those matches for the Bruins, who will make the trip north this week to take on No. 9 California and No. 22 Stanford. Friday's match against the Golden Bears will begin at 1:30 p.m. and be broadcast by Pac-12 Networks. Sunday's visit to Stanford will be streamed by StreamingTennis.com, beginning at 1:00 p.m.
UCLA vs. California -- UCLA holds an all-time record of 94-13 against the Golden Bears. The teams last faced off this season in a non-conference match at the ITA National Men's Team Indoor Championships in Charlottesville, Va. On a tightly-contested final day of play, California picked up the decisive doubles point and captured two out of the three singles matches that went to three sets to earn the consolation-round win.
UCLA vs. Stanford -- The Bruins possess a 70-50 all-time mark against the Cardinal, including a 4-2 win at Sunset Canyon Tennis Courts on Feb. 25. Stanford picked up the doubles point and a win on Court 6 in singles play to jump out to a 2-0 lead, but the Bruins quickly responded. Martin Redlicki needed just two sets to dispatch Sameer Kumar, while Austin Rapp, Evan Zhu and Staggs each went on to pick up three-set wins, with Staggs defeating No. 77 Jack Barber, 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-4, to decide the match on Court 4.
UCLA in the ITA Rankings -- For the fourth time in as many weeks, UCLA checked in at No. 10 in the Oracle/ITA rankings. They have held a spot in the top 15 throughout the duration of the season, and have been slotted as high as No. 6 (Jan. 25 and Feb. 1). In the singles rankings, Gage Brymer (15) and Redlicki (42) maintained their Top-50 status. In doubles, Redlicki-Zhu reached a new season high at No. 7 in the latest rankings. The duo's previous best was No. 15, which it achieved two weeks ago.
Staggs Starring -- Staggs, a junior out of Tracy, Calif., has posted the overall clinching point in three of the Bruins' last four matches. With all matches taking place on Court 4 at Sunset Courts, Staggs defeated TJ Pura of Duke (6-0, 4-6, 6-3 on March 16), Gal Hakak of Washington (6-3, 6-2 on March 31) and Jayson Amos of Oregon (7-6 [3], 6-7 [5], 6-4 on April 1). He has now posted six clinching singles points on the season, as well as a doubles-clinching victory alongside Brymer (Jan. 28 against New Mexico). Staggs possesses a 14-4 overall record in singles play, including a 12-2 mark during the dual-match campaign. He has won seven singles decisions in a row.
Redlicki-Zhu Continues to Shine -- The newly-minted No. 7 Bruin doubles pair of Martin Redlicki and Evan Zhu, which came together on Jan. 18, has not dropped a dual-match decision since Feb. 17. They possess a 12-2 dual-match record and a 14-4 mark overall. Redlicki-Zhu has clinched six doubles points on the campaign, including twice on the Bruins' recent homestand. The duo held off Luca Marquard-Mason Hansen of UC Irvine (March 29) and the pair of Armando Soemarno and Amos of Oregon three days later. All of Redlicki-Zhu's decisions have come on Court 1. The pair also reached the semifinals of last month's 128th annual Pacific Coast Men's Doubles Championships in La Jolla, Calif. Redlicki-Zhu fell to the eventual champion team of Lucas Gerch and Arjun Kadhe in a three-set decision, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2. On the other side of the bracket, the Bruin team of Maxime Cressy and Ben Goldberg also made a run to the semis, where it fell to the Stanford duo of Jack Barber and William Genesen, 6-4, 7-5. The team of Cressy-Goldberg, which made its debut in the tournament, has stuck togther since Pacific Coast Doubles, going 2-2 in dual-match play. It has clinched the doubles point with each of its wins, against Baylor and Washington.
Home Cooking -- The Bruins have opened the 2017 dual-match campaign with 10 straight home wins. Over the course of that streak UCLA has outscored opponents 47-10. The Bruins held an unblemished home mark in 2015-16, as they won all 11 of their matches. Dating back to the 2014-15 season, the Bruins have won 23 consecutive home contests at Los Angeles Tennis Center and Sunset Courts.
Professional Bruins -- Bruin tennis alums Giron and McDonald recently made news with their runs to the semifinals of the USTA Men's Pro Tennis Championships of Calabasas (March 21-26). Top-seeded McDonald won three matches before he fell to No. 4 and eventual champion Sebastian Fanselow of Germany in a walkover. Giron, meanwhile, also won three matches, including an upset over third-seeded American Tommy Paul, 7-5, 6-3. Giron ultimately fell to American Bradley Klahn, who advanced to the finals with a 6-3, 6-2 victory. It capped a successful month of March for McDonald, who was honored on March 17 as part of the inaugural Oracle US Tennis Awards in a ceremony at the BNP Paribas Open. The honor includes a $100,000 grant intended to assist McDonald as he transitions from college into the professional ranks. Former Virginia player Danielle Collins received the award on the women's side.
Head Coach Billy Martin -- Head coach Billy Martin is currently in his 24th season as head coach of the Bruins, and 34th on the staff. During his tenure, Martin's teams have accumulated a dozen conference championships and the 2005 NCAA title. Just two of Martin's teams have finished outside of the top five teams at the season-ending NCAA Championships. They have also not finished outside of the top three teams in the Pac-12 standings. He has earned Pac-12 Coach of the Year honors four times (1996, 2012-14) and the ITA National Coach of the Year award once (1996). Martin has also led three players (Benjamin Kohlloeffel in 2006, Marcos Giron in 2014 and Mackenzie McDonald in 2016) to the NCAA Singles Championship and two teams (J. Gimelstob/S. Muskatirovic in 1996 and M. McDonald/M. Redlicki in 2016) to the NCAA Doubles crown. An ITA Tennis Hall of Famer, Martin was named the "Junior Player of the Century" by Inside Tennis Magazine. Before turning pro, he played one season at UCLA (1975), during which the Bruins captured an NCAA team championship. He also won the NCAA Singles Championship. Heading into 2017, Martin held an overall record of 524-111 (.825) overall and a 143-27 (.841) mark in Pac-12 play.
Players Mentioned
