UCLA men’s tennis has not been getting the performances it’s used to out of the top singles spot.
The Bruins did not have this problem in the past two years with Mackie McDonald. Or the years before with Marcos Giron, Clay Thompson or other players at the top.
After going 19-1 in each of the previous two years on singles court one, No. 7 UCLA (14-4, 3-0 Pac-12) is at a meager 6-7 this year.
A major factor is the departure of McDonald, who was ranked as the best men’s college tennis player last year according to the Universal Tennis Rating.
Yet, even that doesn’t fully explain the fall the Bruins have experienced on the top singles court.
Throughout the season, coach Billy Martin has reiterated that his top two players are equally good when asked about the singles lineup.
“I don’t think we have a dominant number-one player,” Martin said, referring to senior Gage Brymer and junior Martin Redlicki. “We’ve got two number-one players that can play either position. We’ll have them jockeying back and forth.”
Apart from a brief switch at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Division I National Men’s Team Indoor Championship and a nonconference match against USC, Brymer has played all his matches at the one spot, while Redlicki has manned the two spot.
They have had contrasting fortunes on the two courts.
While Redlicki has amassed a 14-0 record on court two, Brymer is 5-5 on court one.
Throughout their collegiate careers, both players have moved around in the singles lineup. Brymer has played on every court except six and Redlicki has played on every court except five and six.
“I’m just playing wherever coach puts me,” Redlicki said. “Doesn’t matter if it’s one, two or six. I come out and win wherever he plays me.”
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The junior’s two losses all season have come against California’s then-No. 11 Florian Lakat and USC’s then-No. 16 Brandon Holt, whom Redlicki has already beaten once this season.
Brymer, on the other hand, has suffered losses against Duke’s then-unranked Catalin Mateas, Oregon’s then-No. 40 Thomas Laurent and Virginia’s then-No. 28 Thai-Son Kwiatkowski. In Brymer’s most recent match, Stanford’s No. 17 Tom Fawcett defeated him 6-2, 6-1.
His inconsistency has been evident this season.
Last month, Brymer defeated Baylor’s then-No. 15 Juan Benitez 6-4, 6-2 which prompted Martin to say that was by far the best match of his college career.
“I played really smart,” Brymer said after the match. “Didn’t make too many unforced errors. Pretty textbook for how I want to play most of my matches.”
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In his next match five days later, Brymer lost to Mateas in three sets.
Brymer mainly played on court three last year and he leapfrogged Redlicki in the singles lineup after the senior went 11-4 in the fall and won the ITA Southwest Regional Championships in the fall.
With two weeks before the Pac-12 championship and a month until the NCAA Tournament, Brymer is on a two-game losing streak and Redlicki is on a six-game winning streak.