UCLA
Texas A&M
No. 7 Bruins Nab Spot in ITA Indoors Final
February 18, 2018 | Men's Tennis
SEATTLE โ The No. 7 UCLA men's tennis team pulled off its second improbable upset of the ITA Team Indoor Championships Sunday, as it defeated No. 6 Texas A&M, 4-2, at the Nordstrom Tennis Center. The Bruins captured the doubles point for the third straight day, but dropped four of six first sets in singles play. Nationally top-ranked Martin Redlicki provided the clinching point after winning a third-set tiebreak.
The Bruins move on to face the winner of No. 1 Wake Forest and No. 5 Stanford in Monday's final (noon). UCLA last participated in an ITA Indoors final in 2004, when they fell to Illinois.
A near mirror image to Saturday's quarterfinal played out on the doubles courts, as UCLA's top tandem of Redlicki and Evan Zhu was locked in a tight one throughout against Patrick Kypson and Arthur Rinderknech. On Court 3, Maxime Cressy and Bryce Pereira were knotted with Valentin Vacherot and Barnaby Smith of the Aggies, 3-3, before turning a corner. The Bruin duo ran off the next three games to win, 6-3, and improve to 3-0 on the tournament.
The sixth-ranked team of Jordi Arconada and Juan Carlos Aguilar of Texas A&M stood in the way of Austin Rapp and Keegan Smith clinching their second doubles point in as many days. The lofty ranking did not intimidate the Bruins, though, who posted a 6-4 victory to give UCLA its third doubles point of Indoors.
The Aggies looked well on their way to securing each of the six first sets in singles play, but a pair of Bruins had something to say about that. One day after trailing 3-5 in his opening frame before mounting an improbable comeback, Logan Staggs one-upped himself. Down 2-5 against No. 35 Valentin Vacherot of Texas A&M, Staggs took the next five games to give the Bruins hope. Zhu, meanwhile, also trailed for much of his first set with No. 52 Arthur Rinderknech, but was able to force a tiebreak, which he took narrowly, 7-5.
Aguilar got the Aggies on the board first in singles action, dispatching Cressy on Court 5, 6-2, 6-2, to even the score. Staggs again fell behind in the second set, 1-4, but another three-game comeback did not prove to be too much for the senior, who put the Bruins back into the lead with a 7-5, 7-5 victory.
Freshman No. 107 Smith got off to a slow start against senior No. 67 Arconada, dropping the first set by a 6-3 score. He turned it around in the second, jumping out to an early lead that he would not relinquish. He went on to drop two of the first three games in the decisive third set, but took over down the stretch to take his Court 3 match, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Fellow freshman Connor Hance would not have the same fortune in his three-setter, as No. 97 AJ Catanzariti overpowered the Torrance, Calif. native in the final stanza, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.
While Zhu was in a third set after Rinderknech took a second-set tiebreak, No. 1 Redlicki was attempting to complete a comeback from a first-set loss to No. 84 Kypson on the top court. Redlicki would send the day's premier match into a third setโand then that third set into a tiebreaker.
The Court 1 foes were knotted at 5-5 before Kypson pulled ahead with an eye on tying the match. Redlicki would not let that happen though, as he took the next two. On the brink of elimination, Kypson could not fight off the serve from Redlicki, who slammed his racket to the court before being mobbed by teammates.
... and the Bruins advance to tomorrow's #ITAIndoors final!! pic.twitter.com/lZogv1qVcs
โ UCLA Men's Tennis (@uclatennis) February 18, 2018
With the win, the Bruins improved to 7-0 all-time against the Aggies. UCLA has never faced potential final-round opponent Wake Forest and holds a 72-51 record against long-time rival Stanford.
Tennis Match Results
UCLA vs Texas A&M
Feb 18, 2018 at Seattle, Wash.
(Nordstrom Tennis Center)
No. 7 UCLA 4, No. 6 Texas A&M 2
Singles competition
1. #1 Martin Redlicki (UCLA) def. #84 Patrick Kypson (TAMU) 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(6)
2. Evan Zhu (UCLA) vs. #52 Arthur Rinderknech (TAMU) 7-6(5), 6-7(1), 2-2, unfinished
3. #107 Keegan Smith (UCLA) def. #67 Jordi Arconada (TAMU) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
4. #58 Logan Staggs (UCLA) def. #35 Valentin Vacherot (TAMU) 7-5, 7-5
5. Juan Carlos Aguilar (TAMU) def. Maxime Cressy (UCLA) 6-2, 6-2
6. #97 AJ Catanzariti (TAMU) def. Connor Hance (UCLA) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. Martin Redlicki/Evan Zhu (UCLA) vs. Patrick Kypson/Arthur Rinderknech (TAMU) 5-6, unfinished
2. Austin Rapp/Keegan Smith (UCLA) def. #6 Jordi Arconada/Juan Carlos Aguilar (TAMU) 6-4
3. Maxime Cressy/Bryce Pereira (UCLA) def. Valentin Vacherot/Barnaby Smith (TAMU) 6-3
Match Notes:
Texas A&M 7-2; National ranking #6
UCLA 11-1; National ranking #7
Order of Finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (5,4,3,6,1)
Players Mentioned
