UCLA
Pepperdine
No. 6 UCLA Bests Pepperdine, 7-0
January 20, 2018 | Men's Tennis
LOS ANGELES – The No. 6 UCLA men's tennis team, fresh off a pair of Thursday sweeps, continued its early season success Saturday with a 7-0 win over visiting Pepperdine at Los Angeles Tennis Center.
Bruins Evan Zhu and No. 108 Keegan Smith each showed resolve late on the top two courts, winning 10-point third-set tiebreaks by identical 10-8 scores with the match already clinched. The other four courts were won in straight sets, with No. 55 Logan Staggs doing the honor of icing the victory on Court 3.
The doubles team of Maxime Cressy and Bryce Pereira set the tone early for the Bruins, notching a 6-1 victory over Yusuf Khamis and Max Mendelsohn of the Waves on Court 3. With Connor Rapp and Evan Zhu in a battle with Dane Esses and Brian Berdusco on Court 2, the Bruins' top team of Austin Rapp and Smith decided to take matters into its own hands. After falling behind Dennis Uspensky-Nicholas Baez 3-1 and 4-3, the senior-freshman duo flipped a switch, notching four of the last five points to clinch the doubles point with a 7-5 victory.
Cressy's success carried into singles, where he cruised in his Court 4 matchup against Mendelsohn, 6-1, 6-0. Ben Goldberg had similar success on Court 6, where the sophomore dispatched the Waves' Scotland Garapedian, 6-2, 6-0.
Staggs posted the clincher, 6-3, 6-2, against Esses. Austin Rapp, who picked up a win in his first-set tiebreak, buried Baez on Court 5, 7-6 (3), 6-2. Zhu, who split his first two sets with Berdusco, went to a third-set tiebreak against the Pepperdine freshman. After falling behind 8-7, Zhu turned it on to take the final three points and the win. Smith would follow suit against No. 100 Uspensky. Each set won by the freshman ended in a tiebreak, as the San Diego native went on to a 7-6 (3), 4-6, 1-0 (8) win to complete the clean sweep.
The Bruins will be back home Tuesday, when visiting Loyola Marymount comes to LATC for a 2:00 p.m. match. That will mark UCLA's final match before ITA Kickoff Weekend, which will be hosted by the Bruins next weekend (Jan. 26-27).
Tennis Match Results
Pepperdine vs UCLA
Jan 20, 2018 at Los Angeles, CA
(Los Angeles Tennis Center)
#6 UCLA 7, Pepperdine 0
Singles competition
1. #108 Keegan Smith (UCLA) def. #100 Dennis Uspensky (PEPP) 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 1-0 (10-8)
2. Evan Zhu (UCLA) def. Brian Berdusco (PEPP) 6-2, 1-6, 1-0 (10-8)
3. #55 Logan Staggs (UCLA) def. Dane Esses (PEPP) 6-3, 6-2
4. Maxime Cressy (UCLA) def. Max Mendelsohn (PEPP) 6-1, 6-0
5. Austin Rapp (UCLA) def. Nicholas Baez (PEPP) 7-6 (7-3), 6-2
6. Ben Goldberg (UCLA) def. Scotland Garapedian (PEPP) 6-2, 6-0
Doubles competition
1. Austin Rapp/Keegan Smith (UCLA) def. Dennis Uspensky/Nicholas Baez (PEPP) 7-5
2. Connor Rapp/Evan Zhu (UCLA) vs. Dane Esses/Brian Berdusco (PEPP) 6-6, unfinished
3. Bryce Pereira/Maxime Cressy (UCLA) def. Yusuf Khamis/Max Mendelsohn (PEPP) 6-1
Match Notes:
Pepperdine 0-1
UCLA 3-0; National ranking #6
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (4,6,3,5,2,1)
T-2:35
Players Mentioned
