UCLA
Portland
No. 4 UCLA Welcomes Portland Friday
February 22, 2018 | Men's Tennis
The No. 4 UCLA men's tennis team is home from the Pacific Northwest and its unlikely run to the final-round of the ITA Team Indoor Championships. The Bruins will take on Portland Friday (3:30 p.m.) in the second half of a doubleheader with UCLA's women's tennis team at Los Angeles Tennis Center. The Pilots have won five of six matches heading into Friday's visit.
UCLA vs. Portland
The Bruins won their only match against the Pilots thus far, defeating them in a 2001 clash at LATC by a 6-1 score (Feb. 13). Three singles matches went to a third set, but the Bruins were able to take two of those decisions en route to the convincing victory.
Last Week
Seventh-seeded UCLA became the lowest-seeded team to advance to an ITA Indoors final under the current seeding system last week in Seattle. After dispatching 10-seed Illinois in the first round, 4-2, the Bruins pulled off improbable upsets of second-seeded Ohio State, 4-1, and sixth-seeded Texas A&M, 4-2. The Bruin journey would come to a close in the title match, where UCLA fell to No. 1 Wake Forest, 4-2, despite winning the doubles point. The Bruins did not once drop the doubles point during their four matches, with their Court 2 team of Austin Rapp and Keegan Smith shining the brightest. The senior-freshman duo went 3-0 on the tournament, clinching the doubles point on each occasion. The Austin Rapp-Smith team was rewarded for its performance, as it earned All-Tournament Team recognition. The Bruins also defeated Seattle University, 7-0, to begin its Pacific Northwest trip (Feb. 14).
Smith Named Pac-12 Player of the Week
In addition to his All-Tournament Team honor, Smith was named Pac-12 Player of the Week Tuesday. The freshman shined at ITA Indoors, holding unbeaten records in both singles and doubles through the first three rounds for the finalist Bruins. Smith also registered a Court 1 win over Seattle University's Trenton Nield on Feb. 14. Along with partner Austin Rapp, UCLA's Court 2 doubles tandem was pivotal to its Indoors success, clinching the opening point versus No. 2 Ohio State and No. 6 Texas A&M. Against the Aggies, Smith-Austin Rapp knocked off sixth-ranked Jordi Arconada-Juan Carlos Aguilar, 6-4. Smith would go on to defeat No. 67 Arconada in singles play, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. In UCLA's opener, Smith topped Alex Brown of Illinois, 7-6(8), 6-3, to give the seventh-seeded Bruins a lead they would not surrender. The voting period concluded prior to UCLA's final-round matchup with No. 1 Wake Forest.
Rankings Updated
With their performance at ITA Indoors, the Bruins were elevated to No. 4 in the Oracle/ITA team rankings. In the player rankings, Martin Redlicki dropped out of the top spot, but is still slotted at No. 3. Rounding out the list of Bruin individuals in the latest rankings are Logan Staggs (No. 60), Smith (72) and Evan Zhu (102). A pair of UCLA doubles tandems, meanwhile, are slotted in the Top 40 of the doubles rankings. Reigning Pac-12 Doubles Team of the Year Redlicki-Zhu is back onto the list at No. 37, while Austin Rapp-Smith makes its debut at No. 39.
Home Cooking
UCLA's seven wins at LATC to start the season continued a string of recent success for the Bruins on their home courts. When the Bruins defeated Ole Miss in the second round of last year's NCAA Championships, they completed their home season with a 16-0 mark at the Sunset Canyon Tennis Courts. Over the course of that streak at its temporary home, UCLA outscored opponents 67-13. The Bruins also held an unblemished home mark in 2015-16, as they won all 11 of their matches at LATC. Dating back to the 2014-15 season, the Bruins have won 36 consecutive home contests at LATC and Sunset Courts.
Fall Ball
A number of Bruins put on championship performances throughout the fall. Austin Rapp did double duty at the San Diego State Fall Invitational (Oct. 6-8), claiming the Flight 1 championships for both singles and doubles (with Goldberg). Smith took the top spot at the Jack Kramer Collegiate Tournament (Nov. 2-5), edging out then-No. 8 Tom Fawcett of Stanford for the singles crown. The Larry Easley Memorial Classic (Nov. 3-5) singles title went to Cressy, who also picked up the consolation championship at the Sherwood Collegiate Cup (Jan. 12-15).
Professional Bruins
McDonald nearly shocked the professional tennis world Jan. 17 in second-round play at the Australian Open. The Piedmont, Calif. native, who turned professional after the 2016 season, fought third-seeded Grigor Dimitrov to five sets before falling, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 0-6, 8-6. McDonald won four qualifying matches in order to reach the main draw, where he posted a first-round victory over Elias Ymer, 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1. In other recent Grand-Slam action, Jean-Julien Rojer (2000-02), joined Horia Tecau to take the men's doubles title at the US Open in September. They defeated the Spanish pair of Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez, 6-4, 6-3.
Head Coach Billy Martin
Head coach Billy Martin is in his 25th season as head coach of the Bruins, and 35th 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. Martin holds an overall record of 557-119 (.824) overall and a 149-27 (.847) mark in Pac-12 play.
Players Mentioned
