UCLA
Illinois
UCLA in Chicago for Illinois, ITA Indoors
February 12, 2019 | Men's Tennis
The No. 7 UCLA men's tennis team hits the road for the first time this week, when they visit Chicago's Midtown Athletic Club for matches against at least four ranked opponents. The Bruins will get started against No. 14 Illinois Wednesday at 5 p.m., PT before continuing with ITA Team Indoor Championships competition Friday. The tournament draw will be announced Wednesday. Live streaming for Wednesday's match is available HERE. Links to live scoring and live streaming for the ITA Indoors matches are available HERE.
LAST WEEK
After nearly two weeks away from competition due to rain in the area, UCLA returned to Los Angeles Tennis Center to record a 4-2 win over California on Friday, Feb. 8. It was an inauspicious start to the match for the Bruins, who dropped the doubles point with losses on Courts 2 and 3. With first-set wins on four courts, UCLA got off on the right foot in singles play. Keegan Smith, Ben Goldberg and Maxime Cressy each went on to tally a straight-set win, giving the Bruins their first lead of the day at 3-2. It ultimately came down to freshman Govind Nanda, though, whose 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 victory over Jack Molloy on Court 3 sealed the deal. The next day, morning rain doomed an afternoon visit from No. 10 Stanford to give UCLA its fifth postponed match of the dual-match season in less than a month. No makeup date has been announced at this time.
UCLA VS. ILLINOIS/AT ITA INDOORS
The Bruins hold an all-time record of 7-2 against the Fighting Illini. Last year, the teams squared off in quarterfinal-round action at ITA Indoors in Seattle, where seventh-seeded UCLA notched a 4-2 victory over 10th-seeded Illinois. Senior Martin Redlicki clinched the win with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 triumph over Aleks Vukic on the top court. The Bruins picked up the doubles point, while Smith and Connor Hance also tallied singles wins. That marked the beginning of a wild ride at Indoors for UCLA, which became the lowest-seeded team to reach the tournament's final round after tallying upset wins over No. 2 Ohio State and No. 6 Texas A&M. The journey ended with a 4-2 loss to top seed and eventual NCAA Champion Wake Forest. The Bruins have won seven Indoors titles, with the last one coming in 2001.
TOP-COURT TOUGHNESS
UCLA's top-court singles trio of Cressy, Smith and Nanda has been hard to beat thus far in dual-match competition. Each takes a 3-0 record on the road, with Nanda the lone Bruin to drop a set during that time. Smith has clinched two victories, sealing the deal against Indiana (Jan. 25) and San Diego (Jan. 26) during ITA Kick-Off Weekend. Nanda went on to clinch a tense battle between UCLA and Cal last week. On the year, Smith holds an overall record of 11-3 and Nanda checks in at 6-1. Cressy did not play in any collegiate singles tournaments prior to the start of the dual-match season.
HOME COOKING
With its Feb. 9 win over Cal and a 3-0 home record on the dual-match season, UCLA has captured 48 consecutive on-campus matches dating back to the 2014-15 campaign. The Bruins won all 16 of their matches at LATC in 2018, outscoring opponents by an 82-8 margin. They tallied 12 sweeps in those matches and never surrendered more than two points. Including a pair of NCAA Championships triumphs, UCLA went 16-0 at Sunset Canyon Tennis Courts as construction moved them out of LATC in 2017. The Bruins also held an unblemished home mark in 2016, as they won all 11 of their matches at LATC.
2017-18 IN REVIEW
The Bruins turned in one of the finest seasons put together by a Billy Martin-coached team, posting 30 wins for the first time in his 25 years at the helm. The Pac-12 regular-season and tournament champions won 19 consecutive matches down the stretchโincluding an 8-0 record in conference playโbefore bowing out against Ohio State in the NCAA Championships semifinal round. Redlicki (Singles Player of the Year), Redlicki-Evan Zhu (Doubles Team of the Year), Smith (Freshman of the Year) and Martin (Coach of the Year) swept the Pac-12 year-end awards. The year of tremendous team success ended with standout individual performances, as Redlicki-Zhu won the 13 NCAA doubles title in program history. Smith and Austin Rapp reached the doubles semifinal round, while Redlicki made the NCAA Singles Championships final four.
WHO'S GONE?
Senior team captains Redlicki, Staggs and Austin Rapp leave big shoes to fill. Zhu has also departed to pursue a professional career. Redlicki, who played exclusively at the No. 1 spots in singles and doubles action, spent a majority of his final season slotted at No. 1 in the Oracle/ITA singles rankings. Rapp and Zhu joined Redlicki in earning ITA All-America honors for their doubles play, as Rapp-Smith nearly made it an all-Bruin national final. Zhu held down the No. 2 singles spot behind Redlicki en route to Second-Team All-Pac-12 recognition, while Staggs racked up 23 singles triumphs, playing predominantly on Court 4.
WHO'S BACK?
Senior Cressy and sophomore Smith return to the Bruins after breakout 2018 showings. A team-high six of Cressy's 33 singles victories came in a clinching fashion and the versatile native of France also contributed 23 doubles wins. He achieved a conference-best three Pac-12 Player of the Week nods along the way. The only Bruin with more singles triumphs than Cressy was Smith, who debuted with a 40-7 mark. The Pac-12 Freshman of the Year achieved All-America status from the ITA after falling just short of the final round at the NCAA Doubles Championships. Cressy and Smith went a combined 32-2 in singles matches played from Feb. 19 through May 20. Connor Hance (18-8 singles) and Bryce Pereira (24-12 doubles) are also back after standout freshman efforts. Goldberg, Lucas Bellamy and Connor Rapp round out the list of returners.
WHO'S NEW?
Seven freshmenโNanda, Roscoe Bellamy, Eric Hahn, Blaine Hovenier, Mathew Tsolakyan, Max Wild and Patrick Zahrajโjoin the fold in 2018-19. Bellamy (Pacific Palisades, Calif./Laurel Springs School), brother of teammate Lucas, was the top-ranked player nationally in the Boys' 12 and 14 divisions. Hahn (Fullerton, Calif./Sunny Hills HS) earned a spot in the US Open Junior Tennis Championships after finishing fifth at the 2018 Boys' 18 National Championships in Kalamazoo, Mich. Hovenier (Los Angeles, Calif./Campbell Hall) was twice named to the Gold Coast League First Team and captained Campbell Hall to an undefeated 2018 season. Nanda (Redlands, Calif./Laurel Springs School) qualified for three of four Grand Slam junior tournaments in 2018 and helped the United States to a runner-up finish at the 2017 Junior Davis Cup. Tsolakyan (Glendale, Calif./Laurel Springs School) was a repeat Boys' 16 singles winner at The Ojai Tennis Tournament in 2015 and 2016. Wild (Murrieta, Calif./Laurel Springs School) was a Boys' 16 doubles champion at the 2016 USTA National Championships in Kalamazoo, Mich. Zahraj (Frankfurt am Main, Germany/Kurpfalz-Gymnasium und Realschule Mannheim) reached the Boys' 16 singles final at the 2015 Eddie Herr International as an unseeded participant.
DE VILLIERS PROMOTED
Rikus de Villiers was elevated to the position of assistant coach with UCLA men's tennis on June 18, 2018. A familiar face to the program, de Villiers served in the role of volunteer assistant coach for five of the past six seasons. He replaced Grant Chen, who was named head coach at Southern Methodist University. De Villiers joined the UCLA staff in the fall of 2012 and immediately aided the Bruins in their run to the final round of the NCAA Championships the following spring. Over the course of his five seasons on staff, UCLA registered an overall record of 124-28 (.816) and dropped just two regular-season Pac-12 matches (32-2). The Bruins also secured three Pac-12 Tournament titles during de Villiers' time as a volunteer. He coached American Ryan Harrison on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) World Tour during his time away from the program in 2015-16. Wil Martin assumed the role of Volunteer Assistant Coach.
KATZ FAMILY SCOREBOARD
UCLA tennis and the UCLA Athletic Department debuted the Katz Family Scoreboard Wednesday, Jan. 9 in front of donors and special invited guests at LATC. The ceremony culminated in a ribbon cutting by the Katz Family, Director of Athletics Dan Guerrero, women's tennis head coach Stella Sampras Webster and men's tennis head coach Billy Martin. Each, along with Sr. Associate Athletic Director, External Relations Josh Rebholz, made remarks highlighting the meaning of the Katz Family's generous donation and the opportunities the scoreboard will provide the UCLA tennis programs. The Katz Family Scoreboard's Daktronics display, measuring 18 feet high and 31.2 feet wide, is among the largest LED video screens in collegiate tennis. Stationed at the east end of LATC's main stadium courts, the board has a 13HD pixel pitch capable of switching between content playback mode and video mode using Show Control. RGB LED lights, meanwhile, will allow for a multitude of graphics possibilities. Also new to the match-day experience is a custom JBL speaker system set to improve audio on the front courts while introducing sound to the back courts.
FALL BALL
It was a busy tournament season for a number of Bruins, including six who made their debuts in blue and gold. Smith got things started on one of the fall's biggest stages, winning once before falling in three sets against top-seeded Nuno Borges of Mississippi State. Hahn reached the singles Round of 16 at the ITA Regional Championships, while Pereira-Smith was dealt a quarterfinal-round loss in doubles play. Hahn again impressed with a singles quarterfinal-round berth at the SoCal Intercollegiate Championships, while Pereira and Wild made the quarterfinal round in doubles action. Smith reached the singles and doubles (with partner Hance) semifinals at the Jack Kramer Collegiate Tournament. Rapp advanced to the Flight One singles and doubles (with Lucas Bellamy) championship rounds of the Larry Easley Memorial Classic before coming up short in each, though Pereira and Wild did prove victorious in the doubles final. Rapp led the way with seven fall singles wins, while Hahn (six), Wild (six) and Tsolakyan (one) notched the first victories of their respective careers. Pereira and Wild each posted a 7-2 doubles record, including a 5-1 mark as partners. In January, the doubles pair of Nanda and Smith collected the Sherwood Collegiate Cup doubles title, while each also reached the semifinal round of the singles draw. Zahraj joined Nanda in debuting at Sherwood, while Roscoe Bellamy saw his first action at the National Collegiate Tennis Classic one week prior.
PROFESSIONAL BRUINS
Cressy played the role of underdog on the way to his first singles title on the ATP Challenger Tour, taking the top spot at the Cleveland Open on Feb. 2. His 6-7(4), 7-6(6), 6-3 victory over former Ohio State player Mikael Torpegaard elevated him to a career-best ranking of No. 313 among singles players on the ATP World Tour. He has also shined in doubles play, tallying nine ITF Futures titles since Oct. 2017 and picking up his first ATP Challenger title with partner Bernardo Saraiva Jan. 12 in Columbus, Ohio. Cressy is not the only Bruin having success in professional tournaments this year. One year after reaching the second round of the Australian Open before taking third-seeded Grigor Dimitrov to five sets, Mackenzie McDonald again advanced into the Grand Slam's second round, defeating Andrey Rublev of Russia, 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4. Marcos Giron also got off on the right foot in 2019, defeating Darian King of Barbados, 6-4, 6-4, in the Orlando Open singles final. It marked the first ATP Challenger Tour singles title of Giron's career. For good measure, Nanda knocked off the recently-graduated Redlicki, 4-6, 7-6, 6-0, in the Tucson Futures singles final.
HEAD COACH BILLY MARTIN
Head coach Billy Martin is in his 26th season as head coach of the Bruins, and 36th on the staff. During his tenure, Martin's teams have accumulated 14 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 five times (1996, 2012-14, 2018) 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 title and three teams (Gimelstob-Muskatirovic in 1996, McDonald-Redlicki in 2016 and Redlicki-Zhu in 2018) 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 579-118 (.831) overall and a 157-27 (.853) mark in Pac-12 play.
Players Mentioned
