Billy Martin looks at the fall as a series of stepping stones for the dual-match season in the spring, an important time for the men’s tennis coach to gauge his players after the summer.
“It is always a good telling sign for me, you know, who is in good shape, who is ready to play,” Martin said. “There’s a bit of nerves there because it is some of the guys’ first competition.”
A few of the Bruins have already started the fall tournament season, but Thursday’s USTA/ITA Southwest Regional Championship at Pepperdine will be the first event for most of the team.
Most notably, the tournament will be newcomer Logan Staggs’ first event as a Bruin. The sophomore transferred from Northwestern, where he finished last year with a singles record of 25-13. Before joining the Wildcats, Staggs was a blue-chip recruit, ranked No. 5 in the nation at the end of high school.
So far, he has enjoyed his time in Westwood.
“There are lot things that I call polar opposite. The way we prepare for tournaments here is drastically different,” Staggs said. “Coach asks what we would like to work on, which is really different. It was always a routine at Northwestern, but I like it here.”
Staggs is the fourteenth-seed in the singles draw and the second-highest on the team.
Also new to the team and participating in the tournament is freshman Max Cressy, a five-star recruit from Hermosa Beach.
The Bruins will also be represented by several returning players: sophomores Martin Redlicki and Austin Rapp, juniors Joe Di Giulio and Michael Guzman, senior Karue Sell and redshirt senior Ryoto Tachi.
“We have been doing more drilling, working on control,” Redlicki said. “Just getting ready for match play.”
Redlicki is the top-seeded Bruin in the singles draw at No. 4, and Sell and Di Giulio are No. 4 in the doubles draw.
This tournament is the precursor to the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championship in Flushing, N.Y., at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Depending on how the Bruins do, they could qualify for the singles or doubles draws of the National Indoor tournament.
Noticeably absent from the tournament is UCLA’s top-ranked singles player, junior Mackie McDonald. He missed almost two weeks of school playing in a pair of ATP World Tour Challenger events, the Sacramento Challenger and the Tiburon Challenger.
His decision means that he could miss out on going to the National Indoors, which is considered the second-biggest collegiate singles and doubles event of the school year, behind only the NCAA singles tournament in May.
The only way for McDonald to qualify is if he receives a wild card from either the ITA or USTA. His chances are good, however, as he is the No. 3 college player in the nation.
Martin said he was very happy to have McDonald back for the school year, as it was unclear if he would forgo his NCAA eligibility to play on the ATP tour.
“We are so glad to have Mackie back,” Martin said. “There was a period of time where we weren’t 100 percent sure – and I don’t think Mackie was either – if he would come back to school or not. … It will make a huge difference to have him back.”