TULSA, Okla. — All eyes were on UCLA men’s tennis to see if it would have a comeback year after a historically disappointing season.
And come back they did.
The Bruins started the season as the No. 14 team in the country, but by all indications they were underranked. Dennis Mkrtchian, who graduated, was the only player to not return, and coach Billy Martin brought in sophomore Logan Staggs, a transfer from Northwestern, to solidify the team’s depth. UCLA also had a clear leader and a stalwart at the top of its lineup in junior Mackie McDonald.
Despite a 6-1 dismantling at the hands of No. 1 Virginia early in the season, the Bruins showed their potential by defeating then-No.11 Georgia and then-No. 3 Texas A&M at the ITA National Indoor Championship in February.
UCLA built on this momentum the rest of the season, racking up 18 straight wins and reaching the No. 2 ranking.
Although the Bruins lost to Oklahoma in the NCAA Tournament for the third year in a row, they had a season of historic milestones. Martin picked up his 500th career win and ended with 524 after this season, and senior Karue Sell reached 100 career singles wins.
This year was a redemption of sorts for Sell.
“Last year, I did not have a good season overall and I struggled for most of the season,” Sell said. “But I ended on a high note and hopefully I can look back at this and know it was my best season in terms of my level of tennis.”
Sell was the definition of consistency for UCLA, as he finished the season with 20 dual-match singles victories and 13 doubles victories.
“Karue’s been such a great singles and doubles player for us with 100 and some wins, which is incredible, and I bet you his dual-match record is probably top four or five in UCLA history,” Martin said. “He is always someone we can count on and today, he really played very well for us.”
Without Sell, the Bruins will need to pair someone else with junior Joe Di Giulio in doubles. The most likely candidates are junior Gage Brymer, sophomore Austin Rapp and freshman Maxime Cressy. Whoever doesn’t pair with Di Giulio will probably comprise the third doubles team.
Redshirt senior and recent graduate Ryoto Tachi will leave the program after this year as well. Even though Tachi didn’t get a lot of game action, Martin said he was one of the hardest working players during practice.
One huge uncertainty facing the Bruins this offseason is whether McDonald will stay for his senior year or turn pro. The junior reached a career-high ATP ranking of 371 earlier this season and came within two wins of earning a wild card into the Australian Open. If he stays, Staggs and junior Joe Di Giulio will only move up one line in singles instead of two, and sophomore Austin Rapp and freshmen Max Cressy will compete to fill the final slot.
UCLA will also welcome three five-star recruits, Evan Zhu, Connor Rapp – the younger brother of Austin Rapp – and Ben Goldberg, who are all top-65 recruits according to Tennis Recruiting Network. The Bruins’ team will nonetheless be heavy on upperclassmen, with six seniors and four juniors on the squad.
Even though UCLA still came up short this year, Martin said he was hopeful this experience will help his team grow.
“Sports is about winning and losing and being resilient, coming back the next day to try to do it again and learning from your losses,” Martin said. “But still, I’m really proud of the team and it was a heck of a year for them.”