University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA at Wimbledon 2023: Day 8
July 05, 2023 | Men's Tennis, Women's Tennis
MONDAY, JULY 10
The eighth-seeded pair of Jean Julien-Rojer and Ena Shibahara was edged out of a spot in the mixed doubles quarterfinal round, falling to Matwé Middelkoop and Aldila Sutjiadi in three sets. A break of serve at 2-1 in the first set became a 4-1 advantage for Rojer and Shibahara and holds the rest of the way put the all-UCLA team in the driver's seat. Middelkoop and Sutjiadi registered two breaks out of the gate in Set 2 and ultimately forced a deciding third. There, the difference was made when Middelkoop and Sutjiadi, leading 4-3, broke the Bruins. Subsequent holds gave Middelkoop and Sutjiadi a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory.
SUNDAY, JULY 9
Marcos Giron and Jean-Julien Rojer suffered losses in men's doubles play at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, but Rojer will have an opportunity to bounce back alongside fellow Bruin Ena Shibahara in Monday's mixed doubles action.
Giron and Botic Van De Zandschulp broke the serve of Robert Galloway and Lloyd Harris for a 4-3 first-set advantage, but their counterparts immediately answered. Galloway and Harris went on to provide the difference-making break at 6-5 before jumping out to a 4-1 advantage in the second set. A break three games later sealed the 7-5, 6-2 result.
The seventh-seeded combination of Rojer and Marcelo Arévalo was broken at 1-3 in the first frame and that was all Americans Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow needed en route to establish a set lead. There were alternating breaks in the second and third games of the following set, which proved destined for a tiebreaker. There, Rojer and Arévalo fought back from a 2-5 deficit to pull even, but Lammons and Withrow ultimately prevailed in a 6-3, 7-6(5) decision.
At approximately 6:50 a.m. PT Monday, the eighth-seeded pair of Rojer and Shibahara meets Matwé Middelkoop and Aldila Sutjiadi for a spot in the mixed doubles quarterfinals.
FRIDAY, JULY 7
Jean-Julien Rojer picked up wins in his men's and mixed doubles openers, the latter alongside fellow Bruin Ena Shibahara. Maxime Cressy, Marcos Giron and Mackenzie McDonald were also in action.
Rojer and partner Marcelo Arévalo downed Marc-Andrea Huesler and Brandon Nakashima in men's doubles play, and teamed with Shibahara to best Jodie Anna Burrage and Lloyd Glasspool on the mixed side. Cressy and McDonald were defeated in men's doubles, while Giron was felled in his second-round singles match.
The team of Rojer and Arévalo, seeded seventh, used a break at 3-3 in the first set to take Set 1 agaisnt Huesler and Nakashima. The contest stayed on serve in the second set, culminating in a tiebreaker. Huesler and Nakashima held a set point at 6-5, but Rojer and Arévalo took three of the final four points and the victory.
The eighth-seeded combination of Rojer and Shibahara had its serve broken by Burrage and Glasspool at 3-3 in the first set, but answered by taking the final three games. The second set remained on serve until the final game, which Rojer and Shibahara took by way of a break for a 6-4, 7-5 win.
Giron's singles match with Márton Fucsovics of Hungary, continued from Thursday, narrowly went to Fucsovics 6-7(2), 3-6, 6-4, 4-6. Giron and Botic van de Zandschulp take on Robert Galloway and Lloyd Harris in men's doubles play Saturday, with first serve expected at approximately 7:30 a.m. PT.
Cressy and McDonald had their times in London stopped, as both dropped men's doubles decisions. Cressy and Andrey Golubev suffered a 6-4, 7-6(4) loss at the hands of No. 11-seed Glasspool and Nicholas Mahut, while McDonald and Ben Shelton came up on the wrong end of a 6-3, 6-4 result opposite Hugo Nys and Jan Zielinski.
The eighth-seeded tandem of Shibahara and Shuko Aoyama fell 6-2, 6-4 versus Oksana Kalashnikova and Iryna Shymanovich Thursday.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 5
Nearly all first-round singles matches were completed Wednesday after rain postponed many of them in the days prior at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. Two Bruins were among the players who posted results, with Marcos Giron proving victorious while Maxime Cressy was felled in four tiebreaker sets.
Giron prevailed in straight sets against Hugo Dellien of Bolivia, while Cressy was bested by Serbian Laslo Djere. Former UCLA standout Mackenzie McDonald dropped a four-set decision versus No. 23-seed Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan Monday.
Giron took control of a first-set tiebreaker with Dellien, seizing the first five points en route to the advantage. Giron would go on to nab breaks of serve for 3-2 in the subsequent two sets and ultimately notched the win by a 7-6(2), 6-4, 6-4 margin. He meets Márton Fucsovics of Hungary in second-round play Thursday, at approximately 6:25 a.m. PT.
Up against the curfew time in London, Cressy was edged out of a second-round spot late Tuesday by Djere. There were just four total breaks in the matchup of ATP top-60 singles players, with each tallying one in the first set and another in the second. Each of the final two tiebreakers went beyond a seventh winning point, with Djere finally coming out on top of the 6-7(5), 7-6(3), 7-6(8), 7-6(7) result.
Like Cressy, McDonald won his first set before dropping a narrow decision. Bublik's 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 victory does not represent the end of McDonald's time at the event, however, as he is slated to begin doubles play alongside Ben Shelton Thursday. Giron and partner Botic van de Zandschulp start Friday, as do Cressy and Andrey Golubev. Bruin Jean-Julien Rojer and Marcelo Arévalo, who make up the seventh-seeded pair, also kick off play Friday.
On the women's side, the eighth-seeded doubles combination of UCLA's Ena Shibahara and partner Shuko Aoyama get underway Thursday at approximately 7:10 a.m. PT.
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