The lower half of the lineup has been a weakness for UCLA men’s tennis all year. But this weekend’s NCAA Regional suggested coach Billy Martin may have finally found some answers on the back courts.
In two dominant 4-0 wins over Florida Gulf Coast University and No. 19 Texas Tech, No. 16 UCLA grabbed five singles points from the three back courts.
The Bruins won singles points at courts four, five and six against the Red Raiders in Saturday’s second round to earn a trip to Waco, Texas, for the round of 16.
“For us to sweep all three matches at four, five and six in straight sets in this big a match was as good a sign for our team as anything,” Martin said. “I mean, that’s where we’ve been struggling and I hope to goodness those guys get a lot of confidence from that. I think the rest of the team will.”
Freshman Austin Rapp, who for much of the year battled sophomore Joseph Di Giulio for the No. 6 singles spot, stepped into the No. 5 spot recently and has been playing what he feels is his best tennis of the season.
“I think all season I’ve been kind of trying to figure things out, and now I’m playing a lot better,” Rapp said. “(At the) start of the year, I had a lot of chances in big matches that I didn’t convert. Now I feel like I have confidence and I’m playing at a level where I can beat a lot of the fives in the country.”
Junior co-captain Karue Sell and Di Giulio picked up two wins each over the weekend at No. 4 and No. 6 singles, respectively.
“I came out with a lot of fire,” Di Giulio said. “There’s a few things I’ve been working on in my game, trying to be more aggressive – (I) came out trying to hit the ball hard.”
Di Giulio and Sell, UCLA’s No. 2 doubles pair, also turned in one of their most impressive doubles performances Saturday, posting a speedy 8-1 victory over Texas Tech’s Alex Sendegeya and Jolan Cailleau.
“We served pretty well, we took care of our serves and we returned fantastic,” Sell said. “They didn’t have really good volleys or really big serves, so those guys kind of stayed in the back, tried to rip (groundstrokes). But with the way we were returning and not giving them any free points, it was just kind of like perfect doubles.”
Saturday’s victory was the Bruins’ 115th victory in the NCAA Tournament, the most of any program in the nation.
“I don’t think this is one of UCLA’s best men’s tennis teams, but we’re fighting hard,” Martin said. “There’s no better timing for them than right now to be playing well and playing with confidence.”
The Bruins’ trip to Waco could end early, as they will face the No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners, who bounced UCLA in last year’s semifinal, on Thursday. Oklahoma has just two losses this year, with one at the hands of Texas Tech.
“I’ve been saying that all week to the guys: ‘If we can beat this team, then obviously we can beat (Oklahoma),’” Martin said. “It’s somewhat facetious, but it’s a possibility. If (Texas Tech) can do it, why can’t we? If we played them 10 times and we’re only going to win one, why not Thursday?”