UCLA
Arizona State
No. 2 UCLA Defeats No. 33 Arizona State, 4-2
April 13, 2018 | Men's Tennis
TEMPE, Ariz. โ Nearly a decade to the day since their last trip to the Whiteman Tennis Center, the No. 2 UCLA men's tennis team eventually settled into its foreign surroundings Friday with a 4-2 victory over No. 33 Arizona State.
The Sun Devils jumped out to an early advantage by claiming the doubles point, but the Bruins rallied by taking four of the five finished matches in singles play. Both teams dealt with windy conditions, while UCLA players were making their first trip to the Arizona State campus. The Sun Devil program was reinstated by the school following an eight-year hiatus, with this season marking their official return.
"[The] conditions are so different than what we're used to," said UCLA head coach Billy Martin, who referenced the altitude, which sits at over 1,000 feet. "But by the time we got into singles, I felt everybody was playing a little bit better, a little bit more adjusted to it and we, actually, I thought we did pretty well in the singles."
The Bruins drew first blood in doubles play, as the tandem of Maxime Cressy and Bryce Pereira won its team-high 14th match with its 6-2 victory over Ben Hannestad and Will Kirkman of the Sun Devils. Arizona State quickly pulled even, though, as the duo of Makey Rakotomalala and Andrea Bolla upset the 11th-ranked Bruin pair of Austin Rapp and Keegan Smith, 6-4.
Court 1 was a close one, as each side seemed to grab momentum at different point before quickly having it taken back. The hometown team of Michael Geerts and Tim Ruehl was eventually victorious, though, knocking No. 59 Martin Redlicki-Evan Zhu of the Bruins, 6-4, and clinching the doubles point.
The doubles loss marked the second in a row for the Bruins, but like their April 6 match at USC, they showed resiliency. UCLA players picked up first-set wins on four of six courts to reset the tone.
Like the Bruins' latest crosstown rivalry match, 55th-ranked Keegan Smith was first off the singles courts. The freshman dispatched the Sun Devils' Rakotomalala in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3, to pull UCLA even.
On the top court, the matchup between No. 27 Geerts and No. 1 Redlicki was as advertised. Geerts escaped a possible tiebreaker in the first set to give the Sun Devils one of their two opening-set victories. The Belgian senior, who's won two Pac-12 Player of the Week awards this season, also kept Redlicki at bay in the second set to secure the 7-5, 6-4 win.
Trailing 2-1, Bruins Zhu, Cressy and Connor Hance took their games to a different level. No. 81 Zhu defeated No. 72 Hannestad in another ranked matchup on Court 2, 6-4, 6-4, while Cressy remained hot on Court 5. The Bruin junior won his eighth match in 10 opportunities, 6-1, 6-4, to give UCLA its first lead of the evening.
Freshman Hance would complete the comeback, clinching his fourth match of the season with a 6-4, 6-2 decision over Kirkman on Court 6. The win improved Hance's dual-match record to 12-4.
"We didn't get a win from Marty today, which is unusual," said Martin. "He doesn't lose too many matches there, but everybody else, again, pulled through.
"Connor Hance had a really big win for us to clinch it."
The Bruins will continue their desert trip Sunday, when they visit the Lanelle Robson Tennis Center for a date with Arizona. First serve is set for noon.
Tennis Match Results
UCLA vs Arizona State
April 13, 2018 at Tempe, AZ
(Whiteman Tennis Center)
#2 UCLA 4, #33 Arizona State 2
Singles competition
1. #27 Michael Geerts (ASU) def. #1 Martin Redlicki (UCLA) 7-5, 6-4
2. #81 Evan Zhu (UCLA) def. #72 Ben Hannestad (ASU) 6-4, 6-4
3. #55 Keegan Smith (UCLA) def. Makey Rakotomalala (ASU) 6-2, 6-3
4. Tim Ruehl (ASU) def. #87 Logan Staggs (UCLA) 6-1, 3-6, 0-1, unfinished
5. Maxime Cressy (UCLA) def. Andrea Bolla (ASU) 6-1, 6-4
6. Connor Hance (UCLA) def. Will Kirkman (ASU) 6-4, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. Geerts/Ruehl (ASU) def. #59 Redlicki/Zhu (UCLA) 6-4
2. Rakotomalala/Bolla (ASU) def. #11 A. Rapp/Smith (UCLA) 6-4
3. Pereira/Cressy (UCLA) def. Hannestad/Kirkman (ASU) 6-2
Match Notes:
UCLA 21-2; National ranking #2
Arizona State 13-8; National ranking #33
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (3,1,2,6,5)
Players Mentioned
