After suffering two losses all last regular season, UCLA men’s tennis suffered two losses in the span of 24 hours.
But the team isn’t worried.
“We knew this year wasn’t going to be as good as last year,” said junior Martin Redlicki. “The losses motivate us and we’re going to try to minimize them, but they are inevitable against top teams.”
To get back to its winning ways, No. 15 UCLA (7-3) will take on Stanford (6-1) at the Sunset Canyon Recreation Center tennis courts Saturday.
Last season, the Bruins defeated the Cardinal four times, including in the Pac-12 tournament and the NCAA Tournament Round of 16. However, coach Billy Martin said he believes little can be taken from last year’s matches. UCLA has since lost lineup mainstays Mackenzie McDonald, last year’s NCAA singles and doubles champion, to the professional tour and Karue Sell to graduation.
“It will be like starting all over again,” Martin said. “The lineup changes make it completely different.”
Both teams are familiar with the other after numerous encounters in the past year, including in the Sherwood Collegiate Cup in January.
“We know most of their games by heart,” said sophomore Maxime Cressy. “I got to watch them and analyze their strengths and weaknesses. It serves as good preparation mentally.”
While the players on both sides have changed, Martin is aware of the rivalry. Stanford and UCLA are second and third in NCAA Division I Men’s National Championships with 17 and 16 titles, respectively.
“We have such a great traditional rivalry with Stanford,” Martin said. “They’ve had such a great program throughout the years. We continue the rivalry by having great matches.”
The Bruins have had two good days of practice according to Martin. They will be looking to shore up their doubles performances after losing the doubles point in all four encounters last year against Stanford and also in both losses against Virginia and Cal last week.
To accomplish this, lineup changes might occur.
“I lost several times recently with (senior) Gage (Brymer),” Cressy said. “I don’t think our games match very well in doubles. Perhaps playing with someone else will help.”
The top doubles pairing of Redlicki and freshman Evan Zhu is still a work in progress too, according to the junior.
“I’m still helping Evan get adjusted to the college scene, college game and stronger opponents,” Redlicki said. “It’s been an adjustment.”
An adjustment that will help the Bruins is the shift from the indoor to outdoor courts, according to Martin.
“Our guys have a game style that is better suited for slower courts,” Martin said. “We have mostly California kids, and there aren’t any indoor courts in LA to even practice.”