The Bruins have a chance to win the Pac-12 championship for the second consecutive season.
No. 13 UCLA men’s tennis (16-4, 8-0 Pac-12) will compete at the Pac-12 championship in Ojai, California, starting Wednesday. The Bruins boasted an undefeated conference record for the fourth straight year and claimed the No. 1 seed in the tournament.
UCLA will begin match play Thursday, where it will face the winner of No. 8 seed Utah and No. 9 seed Oregon. The Bruins bested the Utes 4-2 in their conference opener March 8 and overcame the Ducks 4-1 at home April 12.
Coach Billy Martin said it is difficult to say how his team will respond to the high-pressure environment of the tournament. The Bruins’ roster contains only one senior and half of the singles lineup this year was filled by freshmen.
“I didn’t have very high expectations for this season,” Martin said. “It’s been an unbelievable group of kids who have been determined to succeed and shock the coach.”
The Bruins claimed the No. 1 seed for the second year in a row. Last year, UCLA posted 4-0 wins over both Arizona and Oregon to reach the finals where they faced crosstown rival USC. The Bruins emerged victorious over the Trojans 4-1. Then-freshman Connor Hance clinched the win for the Bruins with a 6-4, 6-4 win over the Trojans’ Jake DeVine.
Senior Maxime Cressy said he is pushing the team to strive for a similar position this year.
“I aspire to be a role model. It’s not easy, but you have to show leadership on and off the court,” Cressy said. “(I have to) make sure that everyone is dedicated and focused. I make sure the team is always disciplined in everything we do.”
The Bruins have won the Pac-12 tournament four times in the tournament’s eight-year history and have claimed the No. 1 seed in six of the eight years. The Trojans will fill the No. 2 seed for the second year in a row and have reached the finals of the competition in every year except in 2016.
Freshman Patrick Zahraj will play in the tournament for the first time and said that he doesn’t feel that the Bruins have pressure to win, despite being the No. 1 seed.
“Going into the regular season, we didn’t get any attention,” Zahraj said. “There were other teams that were more favored – USC and Stanford – and all those teams looked better than us. We know how hard we worked to get into our position and that gives us confidence to do well.”
Also in the Bruins’ half of the bracket are the No. 4 seed California Golden Bears and the No. 5 seed Arizona State Sun Devils. The Bruins claimed 4-2 victories over both schools March 30 and April 19, respectively. No. 3 seed Stanford sits in USC’s half of the bracket. They will face each other in the semifinals, should both teams advance to that stage.
“We have a vision of what we want to accomplish,” Cressy said. “We’re not here for the experience, we’re here to win. I’m very proud of this team for their fighting spirit, and that’s what we’re going to need in Ojai to win.”