The Bruins will continue fall play with four players traveling to Santa Barbara this weekend.
UCLA men’s tennis will be sending sophomore Connor Hance, redshirt sophomore Connor Rapp, and freshmen Mathew Tsolakyan freshman Max Wild to the UCSB Classic. Tsolakyan and Wild will be making their UCLA debuts at the tournament.
Coach Billy Martin said the tournaments allow players to get back into the swing of competitive play before the spring season.
“We’ve just got the guys in the dorms and started the meetings we have to do every year to get the guys cleared,” Martin said.
The tournament in Santa Barbara is really good for younger players just to get a feel for college tennis, Martin said.
Tsolakyan and Wild were listed as five-star recruits in 2018 after Tsolakyan took home back-to-back wins at the Ojai Tennis Tournament and Wild claimed a doubles title at the 2016 USTA National Championships. In the 2018 recruiting season, Tsolakyan’s highest ranking was No. 25 while Wild’s was No. 37.
Despite UCLA’s junior performances, Martin said the freshmen often take time to find their feet when entering college tennis.
“The first few events the young guys are usually very nervous and want to not impress me but do good things and that puts a little bit more pressure on them,” Martin said. “I’ve seen many great college players go through the same thing whether they’re on my team or other teams. It’s actually somewhat comical sometimes to see them get a little nervous.”
Wild and Tsolakyan will both be competing in the B Flight singles, facing Pac-12 opponents Evan Felcher of Oregon and Will Genesen of Stanford, respectively.
Sophomore Keegan Smith said he is ready to see how the new freshmen make an adapt to their new team.
“I’m looking forward to the freshmen coming in,” Smith said. “Hopefully, they can make a good impact on the team. I can lead by example just be practicing hard and show them what to do. But I mean there are the older guys and they know this stuff too. I think they’ll do good, they’re a promising group of kids.”
Smith began play Thursday at the Saint Francis Health System ITA Men’s All-American Championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to which he was invited after entering the season slotted at No. 28 in the Oracle/ITA rankings.
He defeated Yuta Kikuchi of California in the first round and will face No. 2 Nuno Borges of Mississippi State in the second round Friday.
Martin said for many of the new players, such as Smith last season, they have to adapt to facing older players early on.
“The biggest thing for our younger players to get used to is that they are playing guys that are three, four and five years older than them,” Martin said. “That’s a bit of a mental thing because they’ve always been stuck in these age groups and playing somebody within a year or two. It’s good for them to play these tournaments and get into that mind frame.”
Hance finished the 2017-2018 season with a 18-8 singles and 3-2 doubles record, posting four match-winning points, including a singles victory at the Pac-12 championship final. Hance will be playing Hiro Koyanagi of UC Santa Barbara in his match in the A Flight.
Rapp will be returning to the UCSB Classic for the second-straight season after he reached the quarterfinals of the B Flight last year. He finished the 2017-2018 season with a 4-9 singles record and logged a 4-4 record in doubles. Rapp and Hance will be competing together in the A Flight doubles.
Matches in the UCSB Classic begins Friday and concludes Sunday. The ITA Men’s All-American Championships lasts until Monday.