University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA
Jack Kramer Fall Invitational
Bruins Finish Fall With Easley Doubles Title
November 04, 2018 | Men's Tennis
LOS ANGELES โ The UCLA men's tennis team wrapped up its fall schedule with a busy four days at the Larry Easley Memorial Classic and Jack Kramer Fall Invitational tournaments, capping the weekend with a doubles title and a singles final-round appearance.
Bryce Pereira and Max Wild teamed for the doubles title in an all-Bruin affair at the Easley event in Las Vegas, while Connor Rapp went three sets in a tightly-contested singles title match. In Rolling Hills Estates, Calif., the Kramer singles and doubles semifinals each had a UCLA representative.
Rapp got things started at the Easley, as the redshirt sophomore topped Maxim Kirsch of Mesa Community College, 6-2. 6-2, in first-round play of the Flight One singles tournament. Sophomore Pereira was unable to overcome a heartbreaking first set in a loss to Olle Thestrup of host UNLV, 7-6, 6-2, but would rebound in doubles play. In the Flight Two singles draw, sophomore Lucas Bellamy picked up the first singles win of his UCLA career, 6-2, 7-5 over Mario Aguayo of the Rebels, before going down in the second. Following a first-round bye, freshman Wild defeated Ryan Brown of Loyola Marymount, 6-4, 6-4, to advance into the semifinals. Rapp also made his way into the semis of Flight One with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Jan-Simon Vrbsky of SMU.
advanced to the final with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Mesa Community College's Kyryll Krychvun, while Wild came up short against SMU's Andrew Buhelos, 6-3, 6-2. Rapp fought tooth and nail with Thestrup in the final, but the hometown representative pulled out a 7-6, 4-6, 7-6 win for the title.
In doubles play, Pereira and Wild posted a convincing 8-1 win versus UNLV's team of Mario Aguayo and Richard Solberg. Also advancing was the Bruin combo of Lucas Bellamy and Rapp, which had a much closer decision, 8-6 over Ryan Brown and Lucas Moreno of LMU. The Bruins were in for a struggle Saturday, with each match coming down to the wire. In the end, Pereira-Wild notched an 8-7 victory over SMU's team of Gardiner Perotti and Jan-Simon Vrbsky, while Lucas Bellamy and Rapp picked up an 8-6 triumph over Tom Ciszewski and Zach Garner of UNLV. The stage was soon set for an all-Bruin final as Pereira-Wild doubled up Makey Rakotomalala-Thomas Wright, 8-4, and Lucas Bellamy-Rapp topped Clayton Alenik and Eric Samuelsson of UNLV.
The final also resulted in an exciting finish. Pereira and Wild jumped out to a 5-2 lead over Lucas Bellamy and Rapp, only to have their Bruin teammates respond to trail just 7-6. Pereira and Wild would not let the match get any closer, however, as they secured an 8-6 win and the title.
Freshman Mathew Tsolakyan set the Bruins off on the right foot at Kramer with a Round-of-64 victory over Aaro Pollanen of Arizona, 6-0, 6-4. Fellow newcomer Eric Hahn, seeded fifth, followed suit with a straight-set victory of his own, a 6-3, 6-3 decision versus Sebastian Hawken of Washington in the Round of 32. Sophomore Connor Hance, also a No. 5 seed, handled Daniel Landa of UC Davis with ease, 6-1, 6-1. Top seed and defending champion Keegan Smith received a stiff test from SMU's Carles Sarrio but prevailed with a 7-6, 2-6, 6-3 triumph. BYU's Jeffrey Hsu would deal UCLA its first loss of the tournament, 6-4, 6-4 over Tsolakyan.
The remaining trio kept it rolling in the Round of 16, where Smith had an easier go of it with a 6-4, 6-2 win over UC Santa Barbara's Alex Soto to advance into the final eight. Hahn maintained an unblemished record in his first Kramer event with a 6-4, 6-1 decision over Ivan Thamma of UC Davis. Hance had to rally in his Round of 16 date with UCSB's Joseph Rotheram, but prevailed at 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.
The quarterfinals would mark the end for Hahn and Hance, as each dropped a straight-set decision to a higher seed. Hahn was sent away by No. 3 Jake DeVine of USC, 6-2, 6-2, while Hance fell to No. 2 Jack Jaede of the Trojans, 6-3, 6-3. Smith was once again victorious with a tight 6-4, 7-6 win over David Goulak of UC Davis, but the sophomore's run came to an end with a walkover in the semifinal round.
In Kramer doubles action, the BYU duo of Vinicius Feijao Nogueira-Matthew Pearce posed the first challenge to the top-seeded team of Smith and Hance. The Bruins eked out a victory, 8-6, to move into the quarterfinals. No. 3 seed Hahn and Tsolakyan, meanwhile, would finish on the opposite end of an 8-6 decision at the hands of Cougars Sean Hill and Hsu. Smith and Hance would go on to defeat Alexis Alvarez and Ernesto Turegano of Washington, 8-3, before being forced to bow out.
Players Mentioned
