Before Thursday’s round of 16 match against the No. 22 Miami (Florida) Hurricanes, the No. 7 UCLA men’s tennis coach Billy Martin said that for his Bruins to capture this year’s NCAA title, the key would be to take it one match at a time.
On Thursday night, the Bruins handily dispatched the Hurricanes 4-1 en route to Saturday’s quarterfinal round.
With the win, the Bruins have now reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament for 33 consecutive years.
They also extended their current winning streak to 13, and the doubles tandem of senior Harel Srugo and sophomore Amit Inbar is now 14-0 on the season with Thursday’s victory.
After the match, Martin was enthusiastic about the early energy and strong play throughout the match.
“I was very happy,” Martin said. “I thought we came out and played very good doubles in the beginning and continued on in the singles, although Miami was really starting to give us a great battle there.”
As for that energy, the UCLA players seconded the notion that a big key to winning in the postseason is getting off to a hot start and sustaining energetic play from beginning to end.
“It’s always good to get off to a good start,” junior Matt Brooklyn said. “Today we got a quick victory, which should help us save our legs for Saturday. From the beginning of the match we need to bring great energy, just like we did today, and we will be a tough team to beat.”
Brooklyn, who is playing at the No. 1 position in the Bruins’ rotation this postseason, had an impressive showing against Miami, leading the Hurricanes’ top player and No. 13 player in the nation, Daniel Vallverdu, 6-3, 5-2, before that contest was suspended after UCLA clinched the match.
After transferring from Arizona State this past fall, Brooklyn expressed how great it feels to be in the No. 1 position for the Bruins’ postseason run.
After convincingly capturing the doubles point with two decisive victories at 8-4 and 8-3, the Bruins carried that momentum over to singles play. UCLA lost only one singles match, winning three to seal the victory and leading in the two suspended contests.
Up next for UCLA is undoubtedly one of its stiffest challenges of the season, when it takes on No. 2 Mississippi on Saturday, a team that has dropped only two matches in the season.
However, Martin is more than aware of what lies ahead for his team, not only with Mississippi, but with any opponent in this year’s tournament.
“Certainly I believe the opponents get better with each round,” Martin said. “If we’re lucky enough to get by (the next match), we certainly know the next one doesn’t get any easier.”