A Bruin advanced to the finals of the Claremont USTA Pro Classic for the second year in a row.
This time, however, it wasn’t 2016 NCAA champion Mackie McDonald – rather, it was freshman Evan Zhu.
Zhu won four matches in the qualifying draw, then won four more in the main draw before falling 7-5, 6-7 (3), 6-3 to Sebastian Fanselow in Sunday’s final.
The freshman upset No. 2-seed and 2014 UCLA alumnus Clay Thompson 6-4, 6-4 in the second round, and Thompson announced his retirement from pro tennis on Twitter soon after. Zhu spent all of 2016 so far playing in International Tennis Federation Futures qualifying tournaments, and Claremont was his first final.
Two other Bruins also fell to Fanselow in the main draw. Junior Martin Redlicki had an opportunity to join Zhu in an all-Bruins final, but Fanselow ousted the lefty in a three-set battle in the semifinal. Senior Gage Brymer lost in straight sets to the eventual champion in the second round. The other Bruin alumnus in the main draw, Ryoto Tachi, fell to Thompson in the first round.
Five additional Bruins did not make it out of the 128-player qualifying draw. Senior Joe Di Giulio and sophomore Maxime Cressy advanced to round three of qualifiers, while junior Austin Rapp lost to Zhu in the last qualifying match. Rapp’s freshman brother Connor fell in the first round and redshirt freshman Daniel Gealer was eliminated in round two.
This week will feature seven more Bruins in the Irvine Futures, including the return of last season’s volunteer coach Marcos Giron from a hip injury. 2016 NCAA singles and doubles champion McDonald is the top seed, while Di Giulio, Zhu and Redlicki also received main draw wild cards. Brymer and Austin Rapp survived qualifiers and joined their teammates in the main draw.
The Irvine Futures will continue through Sept. 25.