UCLA’s men’s tennis came out swinging in the Jack Kramer Collegiate Invitational, but ultimately fell short.
“We didn’t get as many Ws as we may have liked,” said associate head coach Grant Chen. “That’s part of the process.”
Playing in Rolling Hills Estates, California, this past weekend, the Bruins had four competitors in the tournament – sophomores Maxime Cressy, Daniel Gealer and Reid Shumway and senior Michael Guzman. All four competed in singles, with Cressy pairing with Gealer and Shumway teaming with Guzman for doubles play.
Cressy and Gealer made it to the semifinal, before falling to UC Santa Barbara’s Simon Freund and Nicolas Moreno 8-4. The duo advanced the furthest out of the UCLA teams.
“We really connected well and we played really well,” Cressy said, describing his and Gealer’s doubles performance. “We have to keep working on our doubles game.”
Both UCLA doubles teams received first round byes. In the second round, Cressy and Gealer defeated Pepperdine’s Stefan Menichella and Matias Sborowitz 8-3 before reaching the semifinal.
“We started really well by being aggressive,” Gealer said. “In doubles, that’s really important.”
As for Shumway and Guzman, their doubles team was eliminated in the first round by Cornell’s Daniel Grunberger and Colin Sinclair 8-0.
In singles, Cressy and Gealer lost to Stanford’s Roy Lederman 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, and Baylor’s William Little 6-1, 6-3, respectively. Both of their losses, like the rest of the Bruins in singles, came in the round of 32.
“My strengths were not there,” Cressy said. “But I fought hard, and that’s I all can do at this point.”
Guzman lost to Freund in singles 6-3, 7-5, and Shumway to Sborowitz 6-1, 7-6.
“It’s a strong field,” Chen said. “There are a lot of very good players at this event.”
In the consolidation bracket, Gealer defeated Pepperdine’s Nicholas Baez 5-6, 6-3, 10-7, and Washington’s Sebastian Hawken 7-5, 6-1. Cressy, Guzman and Shumway lost Washington’s Joao Barro 4-6, 6-4, 10-5, Amit Batta 6-4, 6-1 and Sebastian Hawkens 7-5, 6-1.
Looking forward, UCLA looks to focus on its serves and returns to improve its overall game.
“(We have to) keep working on our serves and our returns, and working on our mindsets throughout the season,” Cressy said.
Fall quarter was filled with tournaments for UCLA. Starting in late September, the Bruins have been in competitions almost every single weekend, and the Kramer Collegiate Invitational wrapped up their fall schedule.
UCLA will not begin dual matches or continue tournament play until winter. For now, its players will have a break.
“Moving forward, we got to focus on the positives and tighten it up a little bit,” Gealer said.
The Bruins’ next tournament will be the the Sherwood Collegiate Cup from Jan. 13 to Jan. 16.