UCLA
USC
No. 2 UCLA Visits No. 13 USC Friday
April 05, 2018 | Men's Tennis
The No. 2 UCLA men's tennis team heads across town Friday for a conference clash with No. 13 USC in the teams' first conference meeting of the season. First serve from Marks Tennis Stadium will happen at 3 p.m. Live video will be available HERE. UCLA is currently riding an eight-match winning streak since the ITA National Team Indoor Championships, while USC has alternated wins and losses over its last six contests. The Bruins will represent the Trojans' fifth top-10 opponent in six outings.
UCLA VS. USC
The Bruins hold an 80-49 all-time record versus the Trojans, including one nonconference victory earlier this season. Los Angeles Tennis Center played host to the first meeting, which UCLA claimed by a 4-2 score. The doubles team of Maxime Cressy-Bryce Pereira held on to clinch the doubles point and give the Bruins an early advantage. UCLA went on to take a 2-0 lead, only to have its crosstown rival fight back and trim its deficit to 3-2 with the remaining two courts still very much in doubt. Cressy would come through again, though, upsetting Court 5 foe Jack Jaede in three sets, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, to clinch a Bruin win in the latest chapter.
LAST WEEK
UCLA swept through three California counterparts at LATC, scoring wins over UC Irvine, No. 3 Stanford and No. 30 California. A 7-0 win over UC Irvine got things started March 27, as the Bruins did not surrender a set. Three days later, in a rematch of a meeting that went to the Cardinal nearly two months earlier, the Bruins responded with a 4-0 victory. Cressy and Keegan Smith each picked up singles and doubles wins, with Cressy providing the clincher. Saturday, the tandem of Martin Redlicki-Evan Zhu drew first blood in doubles play, giving the Bruins momentum on their way to the day's opening point. Redlicki went on to secure the clinching victory on the top court in singles play, dispatching ranked opponent Billy Griffith, 7-6 (3), 6-4, on the way to another 4-0 UCLA win.
TOP-RANKED BRUINS
For the first time since the poll's introduction, the Bruins were elevated to the top spot in the latest edition of the USTA College Tennis Top 25. They are No. 2 in the Oracle/ITA Team Rankings, released April 3. Senior Martin Redlicki, who began the dual-match season as the nation's top-ranked player by Oracle/ITA, was again elevated to that spot on March 20 and remained there when this week's list was released. The Boca Raton, Fla. native is 18-4 (9-2 in dual matches) on the season. He holds an impressive 14-3 mark against ranked opponents. Joining Redlicki in the singles rankings are Keegan Smith (No. 46), Staggs (69) and Zhu (84). The doubles team of Austin Rapp-Smith, meanwhile, is slotted at No. 11, while Redlicki-Zhu is No. 36.
ZHU NAMED PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK
UCLA men's tennis sophomore Evan Zhu was named Pac-12 Player of the Week for the week of April 3, the conference announced Tuesday. In a week that saw the Bruins register three shutout wins, Zhu shined brightest. In consecutive sweeps of No. 3 Stanford and No. 30 California, the sophomore picked up straight-set wins over No. 50 Axel Geller of the Cardinal, 6-4, 6-4 (March 30), and J.T. Nishimura of the Golden Bears, 6-4, 6-4 (March 31). He also teamed with Martin Redlicki for two doubles wins. The honor marks the second of the season for Zhu, who has won three weekly awards in his career. He previously won for the weeks of April 10, 2017 and Jan. 30, 2018. Bruins have accounted for a conference-high four weekly honors this season. As a program, UCLA has won 37 all-time awards.
HOME COOKING
UCLA's 13 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 42 consecutive home contests at LATC and Sunset Courts.
REDLICKI WINS NO. 100
With his 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(6) win over Patrick Kypson of Texas A&M at the ITA Team Indoor Championships on Feb. 18, Redlicki earned the 100th singles victory of his UCLA career. The Boca Raton, Fla. native joined an elite club that includes former teammate Karue Sell (2012-16). Redlicki's top-court win over Kypson also clinched the match and put the Bruins into the ITA Indoors final. Redlicki holds a 103-29 career record.
ITA INDOORS RUN
Seventh-seeded UCLA became the lowest-seeded team to advance to an ITA Team Indoor Championships final under the current seeding system last month 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. Smith also went on to earn the first Pac-12 Player of the Week honor of his career on Feb. 20.
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
Dennis Novikov picked up a 6-4, 6-3 win over Christian Garin at the $50,000 Morelos Challenger, which spanned from Feb. 19-25. It marked Novikov's third Challenger title. Mackenzie McDonald, meanwhile, 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 565-119 (.826) overall and a 153-27 (.850) mark in Pac-12 play.
Players Mentioned
