The impossible seemed possible for about an hour Thursday in the NCAA Tournament Round of 16.
After No. 1 Oklahoma stormed out to a 3-0 lead, consecutive wins on the top-three singles courts brought the No. 16 UCLA men’s tennis team back to a 3-3 tie, with sophomore Joe Di Giulio in a battle for the decisive fourth point at No. 6 singles.
But Oklahoma sophomore Florin Bragusi broke Di Giulio’s serve to take a 3-2 lead in the third set and the improbable upset finally looked doomed. Bragusi held serve the rest of the way and steamrolled Di Giulio in the final game, winning four straight points, including a match-ending ace that sent the Sooners into a relieved celebration and a Saturday quarterfinal matchup with No. 8 Georgia.
In a five-hour contest that included three rain delays, a fourth delay for lightning and a mid-match shift from outdoor courts to an indoor facility, the top-seeded Sooners (27-2) bounced the Bruins (17-10) from the NCAA Tournament for a second straight year, outlasting underdog UCLA 4-3.
The Bruins dominated the front three courts, where their top-three players each beat higher-ranked opponents. Freshman Martin Redlicki, ranked No. 118 in the nation, overcame a first-set loss to beat No. 44 Dane Webb at No. 3 singles while 36th-ranked senior Dennis Mkrtchian won tiebreaks in both the first and second sets to pick up a point on the second court against No. 7 Andrew Harris.
The marquee matchup came at No. 1 singles, however, where Bruin sophomore Mackie McDonald, the nation’s No. 3 singles player, won 6-4, 6-4 over top-ranked Axel Alvarez, who came in with a 21-0 record in dual matches.
“I was really happy with that win,” McDonald said. “Knowing that he’s been undefeated and I was able to beat him in straight sets pretty convincingly, it was really nice.”
Coach Billy Martin said it was McDonald’s best performance of the year.
“(Alvarez) is really strong, with a huge serve, huge forehand, really likes to dominate the points,” Martin said. “Mackie was able to negate his power and really run down so many unbelievable balls and make (Alvarez) have to move himself.”
The Bruins did not fare so well in the lower half of the lineup. After sweeping all three singles matches on the back courts in the previous round against Texas Tech, UCLA lost all three matches in the bottom half of the lineup Thursday, with junior Karue Sell and freshman Austin Rapp falling in straight sets and Di Giulio losing in the third set.
Although Oklahoma came into the match as the heavy favorite, the doubles point figured to be well-contested, as the Sooners were just 15-13 in doubles on the year and the Bruins 19-7. Instead, Oklahoma rolled to 8-4 wins on the first two doubles courts to grab the doubles point and take an early lead.
“All three doubles teams, we all didn’t play up to what we can play at,” Di Giulio said. “I felt like we didn’t have enough energy for doubles. They were kind of just dictating on all three courts.”
A win over the Sooners would have been the 500th of Martin’s career, but the UCLA coach of 22 years said the number would not have meant much to him.
“There’s still 100-and-some losses,” Martin said. “I think more about those, quite honestly.”
Thursday’s loss, Martin’s 106th, will surely give him and his players something to think about as they prepare for next season.
“We were able to get here. We were able to show the freshmen what the tournament is all about,” Martin said. “You get put in these positions enough, you’re always a little bit better the next time.”