UCLA men’s tennis headed off to Chicago early Tuesday morning to prepare for one of the biggest tournaments of the year, the ITA Division I National Men’s Team Indoor Championship.
This tournament features the top 16 teams in the country. The only other tournament that spouts such a high caliber of competition is the NCAA Championships in May.
The No. 10 Bruins’ (5-2) first dual match is on Friday, in which they are facing off against the No. 7 University of North Carolina Tar Heels (8-1).
Notable changes in the UCLA lineup for the tournament are freshman Martin Redlicki and Austin Rapp moving to the No. 3 and No. 6 singles position respectively, while sophomores Gage Brymer and Joseph Di Giulio drop down to the No. 4 and No. 7 singles spots respectively.
The team arrived three days early to get adjusted to the courts and to get as much practice time in as they can.
“We have been trying to get acclimated to the indoor conditions and court speed,” said sophomore Mackenzie McDonald. “Just being here in Chicago is a lot different than being in California.”
UCLA has struggled when playing on indoor courts so far this season. Two weeks ago when they played the then-No. 7 Georgia and then-No. 17 Florida at Georgia’s indoor facility, they came up short in both dual matches.
“Looking back, Florida and Georgia, those two matches being played indoors, I think really prepped us,” said assistant coach Grant Chen. “They were tough losses that we had on the road, but those are the same conditions that we are going to face this weekend. While we did take some losses on that trip, being able to play some very good competition early on is good for us.”
Now, the Bruins aim to use those experiences from Georgia against their first opponent, the Tar Heels. Even though UNC has what appears to be a strong 8-1 record, only two of those wins were against ranked teams, Oregon and Virginia Tech. The loss was to No. 5 Illinois.
While UCLA only has two ranked wins under its belt as well, after wins against Pepperdine and Texas Tech, they have played more ranked matches than UNC, and that difference in experience might give the Bruins the edge.
However, Redlicki said every round is going to be difficult and that he believes that any team there could come away with the trophy in the end. He said it is tough to tell who really has the edge at this tournament.
“We’re both good teams and we both have really deep lineups,” Redlicki said when discussing the the dual match against UNC. “It’s whoever shows up and doesn’t have an off day is who will come away with the win.”
Should UCLA advance, they face the winner of the No. 19 Ole Miss and No. 2 Oklahoma game. Last year Oklahoma knocked UCLA out of the NCAA Championships in the semifinals.