The Bruins finished their first tournaments of fall play with a range of results.
UCLA men’s tennis sent redshirt sophomore Connor Rapp and sophomore Connor Hance to the UC Santa Barbara Classic last weekend, as well as freshmen Max Wild and Mathew Tsolakyan – who debuted for the Bruins.
The underclassmen who traveled to UCSB faced a number of familiar Pac-12 opponents. Coach Billy Martin said the bracket featured some of the most challenging competition they had seen in recent years.
“We had the strongest draw we’ve probably ever had at the tournament with Stanford, Oregon and Cal all coming down,” Martin said. “The competition was as stiff as it has ever been. It was fun to see the two freshmen get their first matches as Bruins.”
Tsolakyan and Wild played opponents in the singles A Flight and the singles C Flight draws, respectively.
Tsolakyan fell in the first round to Will Genesen of Stanford by scores of 7-5, 6-2. Wild posted two wins in singles play, defeating Evan Felcher of Oregon 7-6 [6], 6-2, followed by Sebastian Hawken of Washington by scores of 7-6, 3-6, 6-4.
Wild fell to California’s Can Kaya by 4-6, 6-4, 3-1 after retiring in the third set, but said he was pleased with the way he competed in his UCLA debut.
“I’ve been looking forward to it for a long time so it was good to be out there and being a part of it,” Wild said. “It’s the very first tournament so I wanted to just come out and do the best I could. Surprisingly, I wasn’t really feeling that nervous, just pumped up and excited to play.”
Rapp and Hance competed in the singles B Flight and A Flight, respectively. Hance was defeated in the first round by Hiro Koyanagi of UCSB by 6-2, 4-6, 6-2. Rapp claimed a 6-3, 6-2 win in the first round over Chethan Swanson of UC Davis before falling in straight sets to Joseph Rotheram of UCSB.
Rapp said the first tournament of the year typically features players acclimating back to match play.
“The first tournament of the year is always interesting,” Rapp said. “Because you know that some guys don’t play that much in the summer and I think I came out strong.”
Sophomore Keegan Smith was ranked No. 28 in the Oracle/ITA preseason rankings and traveled to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to compete in the Saint Francis Health System ITA Men’s All-American Championships.
Smith finished his play in the tournament with one win and one loss. In his first match of the tournament, he defeated Yuta Kikuchi of California in straight sets by scores of 6-4, 7-5. Last season, Smith finished with a 40-7 singles record, good for No. 57 in Oracle/ITA singles rankings.
In the second round of the tournament, Smith faced senior Nuno Borges of Mississippi State, the No. 2 player in the nation and No. 1 seed in the tournament. The two met in May in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Singles Championships, where Smith fell in three sets after claiming the first.
The rematch at the All-American Championships went to three sets again. Smith fell in the first set 6-1 before taking the second set 6-3. In the deciding third set, Borges clinched the match 6-4. Borges was defeated in the singles final 6-0, 7-6 (3) by Ohio State junior JJ Wolf.
“I wasn’t too happy with the way it ended obviously losing in the second round, but I think it was a promising score,” Smith said. “(Borges) is a good player and I thought I was right there with him. The fall is just about learning and get out the kinks a little bit.”
Martin said match play against the best college players is practice for Smith, if he is going to challenge for the NCAA singles title.
“That guy is one of the best college players and someone (Smith) is going to have to deal with if he is going to have a chance at the NCAA singles championships,” Martin said. “We want him to feel confident as the match goes on so that even in that third set he is still just as strong and serving just as hard.”
The Bruins will next play at the Northbay Healthcare Men’s Pro Championship that started Monday, then the ITA regionals beginning Oct. 17.