After fighting his way out of the qualifying rounds, it only took UCLA men’s tennis senior Clay Thompson one game to realize he would go his entire collegiate tennis career without ever making it past the first round of the main draw in the ITA Men’s All-American Championships.
He was so discouraged by his early loss that coach Billy Martin said it took a large amount of convincing to even get the senior to play in the back draw, a losers bracket for those who fall in the first round.
But when Thompson ultimately decided to play, he took it seriously.
“I took two hours and I was like, what can I do here, how can I completely reverse what I just did and make it into a positive?” Thompson said. “I took the defensive style that I played in the morning and totally did a 180 on it – I was really offensive for the rest of the tournament.”
Thompson didn’t lose another set, winning five straight matches to claim the consolation title and a wild-card spot in next month’s USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships in Flushing, N.Y.
“Clay has always had a very tough time with losses, and it usually takes him two to three days after he loses to pick himself up – at least in individual tournaments,” Martin said. “He’s a great competitor and I wasn’t going to let him off the hook, and I think it shows his maturity as a senior that he’s ready to do whatever it takes to get it done.”
Thompson wasn’t the only Bruin to have unexpected success; playing together in a tournament for only the second time, freshman Mackenzie McDonald and junior Marcos Giron fought their way to the men’s doubles final where they narrowly lost out on the title.
“We definitely could have won the match; I was serving for it at 5-3, I should’ve closed it out,” McDonald said. “But bottom line, me and Marcos are a strong team – our chemistry is good and we compete well together. We can only keep improving.”
With McDonald coming onto the team as a freshman, Martin said he had worried that Giron might not find a connection with the newcomer. With the recent loss, the duo moves to 12-1 together and will likely continue to compete together as the fall progresses.
“I quite honestly did not (expect their success).” Martin said. “This was just their second time ever playing together so see them qualify, win four matches, then win four matches to get to the finals and lose that tough final where they really could’ve won was pleasantly surprising.”
Sophomore Karue Sell and junior Dennis Mkrtchian joined Thompson, McDonald and Giron at the tournament in Tulsa, Okla., but both players saw relatively early exits in their respective draws.
Despite the unexpected losses and surprising wins, the Bruins now turn their focus to the season’s upcoming tournaments, like the one Thompson only recently qualified for, the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships.
“(The tournament) has always kind of been that amazing tournament that the top players get invited to, and just to be considered among those top players is great. Then to be given the chance to experience New York and (Flushing) Meadows is going to be such an amazing environment,” Thompson said.
“That was definitely one of the driving factors behind my success – I really wanted to go to New York.”