UCLA
Jack Kramer Fall Invitational
Smith Aims to Defend Kramer Title
October 31, 2018 | Men's Tennis
LOS ANGELES – In its final fall action of the year, the UCLA men's tennis team will look to divide and conquer at the Jack Kramer Fall Invitational and Larry Easley Memorial Classic tournaments. Both events will run from Thursday, Nov. 1 through Sunday, Nov. 4.
Sophomore Keegan Smith will have his eye on defending his singles title at the Jack Kramer Tennis Club in Rolling Hills Estates, Calif. The San Diego native ousted top-seeded Tom Fawcett of Stanford, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, in the 2017 installment. A Bruin also turned in a championship performance in Las Vegas last year, as then-junior Maxime Cressy took the top singles spot at the Fertitta Tennis Complex.
The 28th-ranked Smith holds the top seed in the Kramer draw and will begin play Thursday after a first-round bye. He will match up with Carles Sarrio of SMU at 1:30 p.m., PT. Also holding first-round byes are fifth-seeded Bruins Eric Hahn and Connor Hance. Freshman Hahn will face the winner of Ian Witmer of Georgetown and Sebastian Hawken of Washington Thursday at noon, while sophomore Hance will take on the victor between Cesar Cemuda of Georgetown and Daniel Landa of UC Davis at the same time. Freshman Mathew Tsolakyan will be the first UCLA player in action when he trades shots with Herkko Pollanen of Arizona in a first-round contest at 9 a.m.
All first- and second-round matches will be played Thursday, with the Round of 16 taking place Friday, the quarterfinals and semifinals Saturday and the final Sunday.
In Vegas, freshman Max Wild will continue what has been a busy first fall. The Murrieta, Calif. native has played singles and doubles matches at three different tournaments. He will be joined in the desert by sophomores Lucas Bellamy, Bryce Pereira and Connor Rapp.
Easley first- and quarterfinal-round singles matches, as well as first-round doubles play, will occur Friday beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday will feature quarterfinal and semifinal doubles matches and semifinal singles action, while Sunday will be highlighted by both finals.
Wild leads the Bruins with five fall singles wins thus far, while he and Pereira lead the team with three doubles victories. Hahn and Rapp possess four singles wins apiece, while Hance, Smith and Tsolakyan have each triumphed twice in doubles play.
Players Mentioned
