UCLA
Stanford
No. 4 UCLA Tops No. 3 Stanford, 4-0
March 30, 2018 | Men's Tennis
LOS ANGELES – The No. 4 UCLA men's tennis team posted a statement win in conference play Friday, blanking No. 3 Stanford at Los Angeles Tennis Center, 4-0. The Bruins did not drop any sets in their finished matches, as they improved to 18-2 on the year and 3-0 in conference play. The Cardinal fell to 15-2 (2-1).
It was a big day for twin towers Maxime Cressy and Keegan Smith of UCLA. Each player picked up wins on both singles and doubles courts and secured three points between them. Smith teamed with Austin Rapp to pick up the day's opening point before capturing the opening win in singles play. Cressy followed up with the deciding victory on Court 5.
"It's the first team we've played twice this year and I was really curious to see how we'd progress tennis wise and maturity mentally, as much as anything else," said UCLA head coach Billy Martin. "I was really, really proud to see the progress we've made in both areas."
Doubles play was tight, with each of the three matches a tit-for-tat proposition. The Bruins kept the Cardinal in their rearview mirror on Courts 2 and 3 with the top court in doubt. Cressy and Pereira broke through first on the third court, taking over down the stretch to defeat Timothy Sah and David Wilczynski, 6-3. Then, in a match pitting to nationally-ranked duos, No. 33 Austin Rapp-Keegan Smith gave the Bruins their first point of the day with a 6-4 victory over No. 25 Tom Fawcett-Axel Geller on Court 2. Martin Redlicki-Evan Zhu was on match point versus No. 75 Michael Genender-Sameer Kumar on Court 1 at the time of the deciding win.
With the ever-important doubles point to stand on, the Bruins took their game to another level in singles play. UCLA picked up first-set wins on five of six courts, with the lone loss coming in a tiebreak on the top court. No. 45 Smith made quick work of No. 71 Kumar on Court 3, 6-3, 6-3, to move the lead to 2-0 and improve his record to 29-6 (14-2 in dual matches) on the season. No. 102 Zhu posted a convincing ranked win of his own, 6-4, 6-4 over top-50 player Axel Geller on Court 2.
Not long after Zhu's win, Maxime Cressy made it a clean sweep. The junior topped Michael Genender on Court 5, 6-3, 6-2, to notch his second clincher of the season. Cressy also posted the deciding win versus crosstown rival USC on Feb. 27. He is 12-2 on the dual-match season and 24-6 overall.
Maxime Cressy tops Michael Genender, 6-3, 6-2, to deliver the clincher!
— UCLA Men's Tennis (@uclatennis) March 31, 2018
Bruins win, 4-0!#GoBruins pic.twitter.com/QJTXQuIhbF
"I can't say there was one guy that had an off day," said Martin. "I think one of the best matches by far we've had where everybody was on all cylinders."
The Bruins will look to continue their success Saturday when No. 30 California visits LATC. The conference match and first 2018 meeting between the teams begins at 2 p.m.
"We're super focused on tomorrow," Martin continued. "Not going to let our guard down. We know this is a good team coming in here. They gave USC a really good battle. We focused on two wins for this weekend. We got half the job done and we want the second half tomorrow."
Tennis Match Results
Stanford vs UCLA
Mar 30, 2018 at Los Angeles, CA
(Los Angeles Tennis Center)
#4 UCLA 4, #3 Stanford 0
Singles competition
1. #1 Martin Redlicki (UCLA) vs. #10 Tom Fawcett (STAN) 6-7 (4-7), 4-3, unfinished
2. #102 Evan Zhu (UCLA) def. #50 Axel Geller (STAN) 6-4, 6-4
3. #45 Keegan Smith (UCLA) def. #71 Sameer Kumar (STAN) 6-3, 6-3
4. #66 Logan Staggs (UCLA) vs. Eric Fomba (STAN) 6-4, 4-4, unfinished
5. Maxime Cressy (UCLA) def. Michael Genender (STAN) 6-3, 6-2
6. Connor Hance (UCLA) vs. William Genesen (STAN) 6-2, 3-6, unfinished
Doubles competition
1. Martin Redlicki/Evan Zhu (UCLA) vs. #75 Michael Genender/Sameer Kumar (STAN) 5-4, unfinished
2. #33 Austin Rapp/Keegan Smith (UCLA) def. #25 Tom Fawcett/Axel Geller (STAN) 6-4
3. Maxime Cressy/Bryce Pereira (UCLA) def. Timothy Sah/David Wilczynski (STAN) 6-3
Match Notes:
Stanford 15-2; National ranking #3
UCLA 18-2; National ranking #4
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (3,2,5)
T-1:57
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
3,2
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
3,2,5
Players Mentioned
