UCLA men’s tennis coach Billy Martin has said all year that his team was scrappy.
The Georgia and USC matches in the first month of the season both came down to the final courts, and UCLA managed to squeak out both wins. During the year, they defeated eight top-25 teams and finished conference play undefeated. And in the final week of the year, UCLA was on the verge of reaching the NCAA semifinals without its No. 1 player, 28th-ranked senior Gage Brymer.
“I think everybody pretty much played up to their potential, and day in and day out really came to compete,” Martin said. “They just all somewhat knew that they’d have to try to compete the best they possibly could if we even wanted to have a chance at winning. That’s what I respected so much about them.”
From afar, it looked like the Bruins would undergo a reloading season this year. Then-junior Mackie McDonald left school to pursue a professional career after winning the NCAA individual singles and doubles titles, and Karue Sell graduated – the two combined for a 37-3 record in dual matches, and there was only one match during the season in which neither player won.
The team didn’t believe the skeptics.
“I think a lot of people counted us out – wrongfully so, because we had a really good team this year when all of our guys were healthy and playing well,” said junior Martin Redlicki. “So while our season may have come as a surprise to a lot of people, I don’t think it was as much because we have a lot of really talented players. The season’s a reflection of our hard work through the year.”
Keeping everyone healthy, however, was an unfulfilled task, especially toward the end of the season.
Senior Joe Di Giulio missed nearly half of the regular season with an arm injury and played at less than full health at the end of the season. He formed a formidable duo with junior Austin Rapp at No. 2 doubles – the two went 10-4 at that spot, including three consecutive victories in the NCAA Tournament to finish the year. But with Di Giulio out, four teams combined to go 4-7 at court two.
The most abrupt and unexpected injury, however, may have been Brymer’s. The senior’s collegiate career came to an end after he required an upper body medical procedure three days before the NCAA Tournament first round.
In his absence, though, the team once again showed its scrappiness.
Freshman Evan Zhu and sophomore Maxime Cressy made their debuts at No. 2 and No. 4 singles, respectively, in the highest pressure stage of the season. Against No. 12-seed Texas A&M, Zhu defeated the 48th-ranked player in the nation, and Cressy clinched the win with a straight-sets victory.
Zhu’s career started up-and-down, as he had a 6-7 record midway through the Bruins’ season. That soon changed.
“The match we played at Stanford, that really gave me a lot of confidence,” said Zhu, who defeated David Wilczynski 6-4, 7-6 (5) and ended the year winning seven of his last nine matches. “I think I’ve really been playing much better since then.”
Zhu and Cressy were part of UCLA’s youth resurgence this year along with freshman Ben Goldberg, who went from possibly being redshirted, according to Martin, to winning three of his four doubles matches with Cressy in the NCAA Tournament.
And despite losing Di Giulio and Brymer to graduation, Martin believes next year will bring higher expectations.
Part of that has to do with UCLA’s incoming freshman class, which includes blue-chips Keegan Smith and Connor Hance as well as five-star recruit Bryce Pereira. Smith and Hance, according to Martin, have the potential to play in the top-six next year, while he said Pereira is as talented of a doubles player as he’s had coming in.
“We’ll have good depth, good players and we certainly showed ourselves that each and every one of the guys in our lineup this year can compete,” Martin said. “So I would say without a doubt our expectations will probably be a little bit higher going into next year.”