Members of men’s tennis made good on the high expectations placed on the nation’s No. 2 team. UCLA athletes comprised half of the top eight singles seeds in this past weekend’s Sherwood Collegiate Cup. All four semifinal spots wound up occupied by Bruins, with five UCLA players reaching the quarterfinals of the 32-man singles draw and all but one singles entrant winning at least one match.
The Bruins have little time to soak in their individual showings at Sherwood. UCLA’s focus shifts to team play as the dual-match season starts in Wednesday’s hosting of UC Irvine.
UCLA and UC Irvine last met in the Bruins’ second dual match of the 2011-2012 season. UCLA won every singles and doubles set two years ago en route to a 7-0 sweep.
Thoughts of dual-match play slipped into Clay Thompson’s mind, at the latest, last week. The senior’s desire to compete for his school surpassed his excitement for playing in what he considered a good Sherwood draw.
“We are really excited to start the team season. It’s tough to … go through one more individual tournament, especially when you’re so close to the team season,” said Thompson, the nation’s No. 1 singles player.
Though UCLA enters this season without two of its top three players from last year’s NCAA final run – 2013 Pac-12 Player of the Year Dennis Novikov turned pro this past summer and senior Adrien Puget remains recovering from a knee procedure that sidelined him from fall play – Karue Sell exuded confidence in an infusion of youth for a mostly intact team. The redshirt sophomore claimed that he feels better about this team’s title chances than those of the 2013 squad this time last year.
Coach Billy Martin assessed that as many as three freshmen have legitimate cases for cracking Wednesday’s singles lineup, which he reveals an hour before each game. Martin also said that he has a good feel for who his singles players will be throughout the year, but still looks to see how his young players respond as individuals to situations like playing with a team win on the line.
Freshman Gage Brymer, who reached the Sherwood semifinals along with fellow first-year Mackenzie McDonald, figures to be evaluated by Martin in how he handles the team tennis atmosphere.
Brymer’s reaction to the new experiences of college dual-match play remains to be seen. Yet the freshman counts himself informed of the changes brought by playing for a team. Team veterans have imparted upon Brymer the idea that more engaged crowds, especially opposing spectators, present the biggest change of pace when playing under a single banner.
“(The) only other team experience you get as a tennis player is high school tennis,” Brymer said. “Coming into this kind of team environment where you’re playing for your school, something bigger than just yourself, is pretty rare for our sport.”