Bruins Abound in NCAA Tennis Semis
May 26, 2018 | Men's Tennis
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. โ UCLA will be well-represented in the NCAA Men's Tennis Singles and Doubles Championships semifinal rounds, with top-seeded Martin Redlicki earning a spot in the singles final four and the pairs of Redlicki-Evan Zhu and Austin Rapp-Keegan Smith notching upsets over the Nos. 1 and 2 teams, respectively, to advance.
Rain delayed each of Saturday's matches, with both UCLA doubles pairs ultimately forced indoors. Redlicki triumphed over Alabama's Mazen Osama, 6-4, 7-5, to get things started. Redlicki-Zhu topped Nuno Borges-Strahinja Rakic of Mississippi State, 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (7), moments before Rapp-Smith knocked off Blumberg-Kelly of North Carolina, 7-5, 4-6, 1-0 (4).
The appearance by two Bruin doubles tandems in the semifinal round represents a first in program history since 1988. Only two other teams accomplished the feat over the 30-year span: Ole Miss (1995) and Stanford (1992).
It was a rocky start to Redlicki's singles quarter, as the senior was broken by Osama and needed to climb out of a 0-2 hole. Redlicki immediately countered with a break of his own to get the match back on serve, though, and was off to the races. The lefty was able to capitalize on mistakes by the nation's 10th-ranked player to take a 4-3 lead and eventually capture the opening set with an ace.
In a reversal of sorts, Redlicki took the second set's first game before having Osama power back to take a 5-4 lead. With a third set apparently on the horizon, UCLA's ITA National Senior Player of the Year took charge, taking the next three games to notch his second straight-set win in a row. The win set up a showdown with host Wake Forest's Petros Chrysochos, who defeated Ohio State's Mikael Torpegaard Saturday. The top-seeded Redlicki will face the fourth-seeded Chrysochos Sunday at 10:30 a.m. (PT).
Redlicki-Zhu took two of the first three games in its doubles match, but the nation's No. 1 team proved worthy of its lofty rating by taking five of the next six and putting the Bruins behind the eight ball. The teams would stay on serve in the second until a big break by the Bruins to double up the Bulldogs at 4-2. The momentum carried Redlicki-Zhu to two of the next three games and a 10-point match tiebreaker.
There, the Bulldogs broke through first with an ace, but would never see the lead again. No. 29 Redlicki-Zhu powered to an 8-3 advantage before watching Nuno-Rakic creep back to 9-7, but never let them any closer.
A back-and-forth first set between Rapp-Smith and Blumberg-Kelly saw the Bruins break at the most opportune time, avoiding a first-set tiebreak to head to the second with an edge. No. 2 Blumberg-Kelly picked up an important break in the second and jumped on the Bruins with a hold to extend the lead to 3-1. The Tar Heel tandem went on to capture the second set, 6-4, setting up another 10-point match tiebreaker.
With Redlicki-Zhu already locked into a semifinal spot, Rapp-Smith looked poised to take its own. The No. 16 Bruin tandem took control with the tiebreaker's first three points and cruised to a 10-4 decision.
Redlicki-Zhu and Rapp-Smith will follow in the footsteps of the 1988 Bruin pairs of Patrick Galbraith-Brian Garrow and Buff Farrow-Rob Bierens, each of which reached the semifinal stage with a straight-set win. The duos ultimately met in an all-Bruin final round, with Galbraith-Garrow coming out victorious, 6-3, 6-2.
Players Mentioned
