UCLA
Arizona
Men's Tennis Secures Pac-12 Regular-Season Title
April 20, 2019 | Men's Tennis
LOS ANGELES โ The No. 14 UCLA men's tennis team continued a few remarkable runs Saturday, most notably securing its fourth straight Pac-12 regular-season championship with a 4-1 win against No. 24 Arizona at Los Angeles Tennis Center.
The top-court trio of Maxime Cressy, Keegan Smith and Govind Nanda recorded wins for the Bruins, who improved to 16-4 overall and 8-0 in conference play. Head coach Billy Martin's teams have not dropped a regular-season conference match since April 16, 2015. Arizona (17-6, 3-5) got on the board thanks to a Carlos Hassey win on Court 5.
Cressy was honored in a post-match Senior Day ceremony on Court 1. In addition to his singles win, the native of Paris teamed with Smith to stay undefeated in doubles play. The Bruins would eventually claim the doubles point, as well.
With Nanda and Connor Rapp off to a rocky start on Court 2, the bookends led the way. Facing off with 71st-ranked Igor Karpovets and Jonas Ziverts on the top court, No. 5 Cressy and Smith kept their streak alive with a 6-2 showing. The win marked the Bruin pair's 13th without a loss.
While the top court got things started for UCLA in doubles play, the bottom one delivered the decider. Bruins Bryce Pereira and Patrick Zahraj kept Stewart Block and Jonas Maier at bay throughout their matchup, eventually notching a 6-3 win. The win marked the pair's 10th of the dual-match season.
Arizona momentarily pulled even with a win in the day's first completed singles match. Hassey posted identical 6-4 frames against Mathew Tsolakyan, putting some pressure on the Bruins. The Wildcat took five of the last six games on Court 5.
At that point, the top-court Bruins took over. Fittingly, the senior got it started in his final home regular-season match, completing a hard-fought 7-5, 6-3 defeat of Ziverts on Court 1. A drop-shot by Cressy could not be reached by the freshman, setting off a domino effect.
Nanda, who led 4-1 in his first set, edged Karpovets in a tiebreaker before falling behind in the second. Trailing 1-4, the Bruin freshman charged back with the final five games for his team-high 15th dual-match win.
Smith notched a convincing first-set performance against Filip Malbasic on the second court, surrendering just one game. Unfazed, Malbasic forced a second-set tiebreaker, which he controlled by a 7-1 score. Knotted at three games apiece in the third set, Smith took over, taking the final three for a 6-1, 6-7(1), 6-3 win. Now a winner of nine straight decisions, Smith's win Saturday marked his first during the run to go more than two sets.
Next up for UCLA is a trip to Ojai, Calif. for the Pac-12 Championships, which begin Wednesday, April 24. All matches will be played at Libbey Park. With their first-place finish, the Bruins are slated to face the winner of the No. 8-No. 9 matchup Thursday, April 25 at 12 p.m. The full bracket will be released and published Tuesday, April 22 to Pac-12.com.
Tennis Match Results
Arizona vs UCLA
4/20/2019 at Los Angeles, CA
(Los Angeles Tennis Center)
#14 UCLA 4, #24 Arizona 1
Singles competition
1. #20 Maxime Cressy (UCLA) def. Jonas Ziverts (ARIZ) 7-5, 6-3
2. #37 Keegan Smith (UCLA) def. Filip Malbasic (ARIZ) 6-1, 6-7 (1-7), 6-3
3. #45 Govind Nanda (UCLA) def. Igor Karpovets (ARIZ) 7-6 (7-4), 6-4
4. Ben Goldberg (UCLA) vs. Alejandro Reguant (ARIZ) 5-7, 6-4, 1-0, unfinished
5. Carlos Hassey (ARIZ) def. Mathew Tsolakyan (UCLA) 6-4, 6-4
6. Eric Hahn (UCLA) vs. Jonas Maier (ARIZ) 4-6, 6-3, 3-3, unfinished
Doubles competition
1. #5 Maxime Cressy/Keegan Smith (UCLA) def. #71 Igor Karpovets/Jonas Ziverts (ARIZ) 6-2
2. Govind Nanda/Connor Rapp (UCLA) vs. Filip Malbasic/Alejandro Reguant (ARIZ) 3-5, unfinished
3. Bryce Pereira/Patrick Zahraj (UCLA) def. Stewart Block/Jonas Maier (ARIZ) 6-3
Match Notes:
Arizona 17-6; National ranking #24
UCLA 16-4; National ranking #14
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (5,1,3,2)
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
1,3
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
5,1,3,2
Players Mentioned
