When sophomore Mackenzie McDonald takes the court at this weekend’s Pac-12 championships in Ojai, he will be in a familiar environment.
McDonald won the Ojai Men’s Open two years ago, making the city a good place for his personal performance.
“Going back is definitely a good feeling – I’ve always played well there,” he said.
McDonald also played for the Bruins last year at Pac-12s, helping upset USC in the finals for the win.
However, McDonald is not the only Bruin with past experience in Ojai, a hotspot for Southern California tennis events.
Freshman Austin Rapp won the Boys’ 16 Singles in 2013 while teammate sophomore Gage Brymer took the CIF Boys’ Singles title that same year.
Similarly, Japanese native redshirt junior Ryoto Tachi moved to Ojai from India to attend Weil Tennis Academy, making this weekend a homecoming for him.
As a student at Weil, Tachi watched tennis tournaments hosted in Ojai and found that they pushed him to become a better athlete himself. Tachi said that among the first college matches he saw was a finals match between Stanford and USC at Pac-12s.
“Those kinds of college matches are really inspirational to high schoolers,” Tachi said.
UCLA will play Washington on Thursday, advancing to play USC the next day if it wins. The championships will culminate in the finals match on Saturday at 5 p.m.
Coach Billy Martin expressed his confidence in the upcoming quarterfinal match, saying that UCLA did well against Washington even without top player McDonald. The Bruins played against the Huskies last month, dominating at 6-1.
In looking at a possible rematch against ‘SC, Martin said that he was more certain in the team’s ability to win the doubles point than before. In a meeting against the cross-town rival earlier this month, the Bruins easily won the No. 2 and 3 doubles matches despite being overmatched in singles and losing 4-2 overall.
“If we’re ready and playing good tennis (and) we’re inspired, I think we have a good chance,” Martin said.