The UCLA men’s tennis team looks to gain some valuable match experience during this week’s 59th Annual Southern California Intercollegiate Championships.
No. 5 seed sophomore Austin Rapp and junior Joseph Di Giulio said they hoped this tournament would prepare them mentally and physically for the upcoming season, especially against their crosstown rivals, the Trojans.
Di Giulio, who recently lost to Logan Smith of USC at the USTA/ITA Regional Championships in the round of 64, said that he looks forward to matching up against USC this week.
“I’d definitely like to get some revenge on an ‘SC guy,” Di Giulio said.
Although Coach Billy Martin knows that USC won’t be as strong this year, he is looking at possible matchups that will help him with the season lineup, also stressing the importance of never counting the Trojans out in these type of tournaments.
The Bruins will be facing stiff competition from other programs such as Pepperdine and USD, both strong programs that have closely contended with UCLA in previous tournaments.
Even though the tournament means little for the Bruins’ season, Martin said that getting solid match time for his players in these sort of fall tournaments will be beneficial as the season progresses. UCLA’s performance will also give Martin a good idea as to which players are physically and mentally prepared for more grueling matches to come in the winter.
“It just allows me to see where the guys are at with their game and who’s playing well,” Martin said. “And who’s going to probably deserve to be considered to be playing come January.”
Rapp agreed, noting that a good tournament finish will establish some confidence and will set a positive tone for the more competitive and higher-stakes matches of the upcoming season.
Since the tournament will be held at UCLA, Rapp and Di Giulio said they were relieved that they would not have to travel, as most of the players had recently travelled to Tulsa and Pepperdine.
“We’ve been having to travel a lot,” said Di Giulio. “It’s nice to just be home.”
Not all players will be participating in the tournament. Some notable absences include junior Mackenzie McDonald because of other tournament obligations and sophomore Martin Redlicki because of a minor injury.
Junior Gage Brymer will not be playing in any singles matches, but will be playing doubles. Brymer missed the majority of last season, so this will be one of his first tournaments since returning from injury.
“(Gage) just really doesn’t want to start playing until he really feels he can do well in the tournament,” Martin said. “He’s just that competitive a guy.”
Some notable players to key in on during the tournament will be No. 5 seed sophomore Logan Staggs, No. 5 seed Rapp, who will be playing Eric Tseng of UCSD in the round of 32, and No. 3 seed senior Karue Sell, who will be playing Nathan Eshmade of UCSB in the round of 32.