No. 20 Men's Tennis Hosts Gauchos Thursday

The No. 20 UCLA men's tennis team returns home to face UC Santa Barbara in a non-conference match Thursday, March 14. First serve from Los Angeles Tennis Center is set for 3 p.m. The Bruins are coming off their Pac-12 debut, a 4-2 win at Utah, and hold a 6-4 overall record (1-0 Pac-12). The Gauchos are also 6-4. Live stats will be available at uclalivestats.com.

LAST WEEK
No. 20 UCLA held on to defeat No. 41 Utah 4-2 in the teams' Pac-12 opener Friday, March 8 at George S. Eccles Tennis Center in Salt Lake City. Ben Goldberg provided the heroics for the Bruins, securing his clinching three-set victory with an ace on Court 5. UCLA got the day started by picking up the doubles point in suspenseful fashion before Govind Nanda and Maxime Cressy set up Goldberg for the decider. The new tandem of Nanda and Keegan Smith clinched the doubles point with a 7-6(3) victory on Court 2. David Micevski and Russell Benkaim claimed singles wins for the Utes.

UCLA VS. UCSB
UCLA holds a 28-1 all-time record against UCSB. The teams last met in 2017, when the Bruins handed the visiting Gauchos a 5-2 defeat at the Sunset Canyon Tennis Courts. UCSB picked up the doubles point, but UCLA quickly turned things around with wins on five of six singles courts. Each of the final two decisions went three sets, with Gage Brymer clinching on the top court against Nicolas Moreno de Alboran 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.

CRESSY NAMED PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK FOR MARCH 4-10
Cressy was named Pac-12 Player of the Week for the week of March 4-10, the conference announced Tuesday. The Bruins traveled to the unfamiliar confines of Utah for their Pac-12 opener (March 8) and returned winners, thanks in large part to Cressy. The 6-7 big server controlled his match against 64th-ranked Dan Little of Utah, registering a 6-4, 6-1 victory on Court 1 to give his team a 3-0 cushion. UCLA would go on to win 4-2. The triumph marked Cressy's first against a nationally-ranked opponent this season. The Hermosa Beach, Calif. native also teamed with Connor Rapp to establish momentum in doubles play, beating David Micevski and Slava Shainyan 6-1 on the top court. Cressy now holds a 5-1 record in singles matches and a 9-0 mark in doubles play. The award represents the fourth of Cressy's career and 40th all time for the UCLA men's tennis program. He earned the honor a league-high three times in 2018.

BRUINS IN THE RANKINGS
Freshman Nanda reached a career-best No. 46 in the Oracle ITA singles rankings, announced Tuesday, March 5. The Redlands, Calif. native is 11-3 on the season, 8-2 in dual matches. Smith is also in the top 100 at No. 98. He is 11-5 (3-2). Tsolakyan debuted at No. 106, while Cressy rounded out the singles representatives at No. 118. The tandem of Cressy and Smith, which has yet to lose a match at 4-0, is slotted at No. 25 in the doubles rankings. The Bruins remained at No. 20 in the team rankings, announced Tuesday. They stayed at 13th in this week's installment Tennis Channel/USTA College Tennis Top 25 Rankings.

FRESH FACES
The UCLA singles lineup has undergone a youth movement over the course of the dual-match season, as five freshmen have played roles in recent contests. In their Feb. 26 win over visiting Grand Canyon, three of those first-year players—Nanda, Tsolakyan and Eric Hahn—tallied wins. Tsolakyan provided the clinching point in a 4-2 victory. Patrick Zahraj has also been a pivotal part of the Bruins' singles and doubles lineups, participating in each match and securing an ITA Team Indoor Championships win over No. 11 Notre Dame on Feb. 15. For good measure, freshman Max Wild teamed with Nanda for a doubles win in the GCU match.

HOME COOKING
With its Feb. 26 win over GCU and a 4-0 home record on the dual-match season, UCLA has captured 49 consecutive on-campus matches dating back to the 2014-15 campaign. The Bruins won all 16 of their matches at LATC in 2018, outscoring opponents by an 82-8 margin. They tallied 12 sweeps in those matches and never surrendered more than two points. Including a pair of NCAA Championships triumphs, UCLA went 16-0 at Sunset Canyon Tennis Courts as construction moved them out of LATC in 2017. The Bruins also held an unblemished home mark in 2016, as they won all 11 of their matches at LATC.

2017-18 IN REVIEW
The Bruins turned in one of the finest seasons put together by a Billy Martin-coached team, posting 30 wins for the first time in his 25 years at the helm. The Pac-12 regular-season and tournament champions won 19 consecutive matches down the stretch—including an 8-0 record in conference play—before bowing out against Ohio State in the NCAA Championships semifinal round. Martin Redlicki (Singles Player of the Year), Redlicki-Evan Zhu (Doubles Team of the Year), Smith (Freshman of the Year) and Martin (Coach of the Year) swept the Pac-12 year-end awards. The year of tremendous team success ended with standout individual performances, as Redlicki-Zhu won the 13 NCAA doubles title in program history. Smith and Austin Rapp reached the doubles semifinal round, while Redlicki made the NCAA Singles Championships final four.

WHO'S NEW?
Seven freshmen—Hahn, Nanda, Tsolakyan, Wild, Zahraj, Roscoe Bellamy and Blaine Hovenier—join the fold in 2018-19. Bellamy (Pacific Palisades, Calif./Laurel Springs School), brother of teammate Lucas, was the top-ranked player nationally in the Boys' 12 and 14 divisions. Hahn (Fullerton, Calif./Sunny Hills HS) earned a spot in the US Open Junior Tennis Championships after finishing fifth at the 2018 Boys' 18 National Championships in Kalamazoo, Mich. Hovenier (Los Angeles, Calif./Campbell Hall) was twice named to the Gold Coast League First Team and captained Campbell Hall to an undefeated 2018 season. Nanda (Redlands, Calif./Laurel Springs School) qualified for three of four Grand Slam junior tournaments in 2018 and helped the United States to a runner-up finish at the 2017 Junior Davis Cup. Tsolakyan (Glendale, Calif./Laurel Springs School) was a repeat Boys' 16 singles winner at The Ojai Tennis Tournament in 2015 and 2016. Wild (Murrieta, Calif./Laurel Springs School) was a Boys' 16 doubles champion at the 2016 USTA National Championships in Kalamazoo, Mich. Zahraj (Frankfurt am Main, Germany/Kurpfalz-Gymnasium und Realschule Mannheim) reached the Boys' 16 singles final at the 2015 Eddie Herr International as an unseeded participant.

DE VILLIERS PROMOTED
De Villiers was elevated to the position of assistant coach with UCLA men's tennis on June 18, 2018. A familiar face to the program, de Villiers served in the role of volunteer assistant coach for five of the past six seasons. He replaced Grant Chen, who was named head coach at Southern Methodist University. De Villiers joined the UCLA staff in the fall of 2012 and immediately aided the Bruins in their run to the final round of the NCAA Championships the following spring. Over the course of his five seasons on staff, UCLA registered an overall record of 124-28 (.816) and dropped just two regular-season Pac-12 matches (32-2). The Bruins also secured three Pac-12 Tournament titles during de Villiers' time as a volunteer. He coached American Ryan Harrison on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) World Tour during his time away from the program in 2015-16. Wil Martin assumed the role of Volunteer Assistant Coach.

KATZ FAMILY SCOREBOARD
UCLA tennis and the UCLA Athletic Department debuted the Katz Family Scoreboard Wednesday, Jan. 9 in front of donors and special invited guests at LATC. The ceremony culminated in a ribbon cutting by the Katz Family, Director of Athletics Dan Guerrero, women's tennis head coach Stella Sampras Webster and men's tennis head coach Billy Martin. Each, along with Sr. Associate Athletic Director, External Relations Josh Rebholz, made remarks highlighting the meaning of the Katz Family's generous donation and the opportunities the scoreboard will provide the UCLA tennis programs. The Katz Family Scoreboard's Daktronics display, measuring 18 feet high and 31.2 feet wide, is among the largest LED video screens in collegiate tennis. Stationed at the east end of LATC's main stadium courts, the board has a 13HD pixel pitch capable of switching between content playback mode and video mode using Show Control. RGB LED lights, meanwhile, will allow for a multitude of graphics possibilities. Also new to the match-day experience is a custom JBL speaker system set to improve audio on the front courts while introducing sound to the back courts.

FALL BALL
It was a busy tournament season for a number of Bruins, including six who made their debuts in blue and gold. Smith got things started on one of the fall's biggest stages, winning once before falling in three sets against top-seeded Nuno Borges of Mississippi State. Hahn reached the singles Round of 16 at the ITA Regional Championships, while Pereira-Smith was dealt a quarterfinal-round loss in doubles play. Hahn again impressed with a singles quarterfinal-round berth at the SoCal Intercollegiate Championships, while Pereira and Wild made the quarterfinal round in doubles action. Smith reached the singles and doubles (with partner Hance) semifinals at the Jack Kramer Collegiate Tournament. Rapp advanced to the Flight One singles and doubles (with Lucas Bellamy) championship rounds of the Larry Easley Memorial Classic before coming up short in each, though Pereira and Wild did prove victorious in the doubles final. Rapp led the way with seven fall singles wins, while Hahn (six), Wild (six) and Tsolakyan (one) notched the first victories of their respective careers. Pereira and Wild each posted a 7-2 doubles record, including a 5-1 mark as partners. In January, the doubles pair of Nanda and Smith collected the Sherwood Collegiate Cup doubles title, while each also reached the semifinal round of the singles draw. Zahraj joined Nanda in debuting at Sherwood, while Roscoe Bellamy saw his first action at the National Collegiate Tennis Classic one week prior.

PROFESSIONAL BRUINS
Cressy played the role of underdog on the way to his first singles title on the ATP Challenger Tour, taking the top spot at the Cleveland Open on Feb. 2. His 6-7(4), 7-6(6), 6-3 victory over former Ohio State player Mikael Torpegaard elevated him to a career-best ranking of No. 313 among singles players on the ATP World Tour. He has also shined in doubles play, tallying nine ITF Futures titles since Oct. 2017 and picking up his first ATP Challenger title with partner Bernardo Saraiva Jan. 12 in Columbus, Ohio. Cressy is not the only Bruin having success in professional tournaments this year. One year after reaching the second round of the Australian Open before taking third-seeded Grigor Dimitrov to five sets, Mackenzie McDonald again advanced into the Grand Slam's second round, defeating Andrey Rublev of Russia, 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4. He has also reached the final round of the RBC Tennis Championships of Dallas and the semifinal round of the Delray Beach Open this month. Marcos Giron also got off on the right foot in 2019, defeating Darian King of Barbados, 6-4, 6-4, in the Orlando Open singles final. It marked the first ATP Challenger Tour singles title of Giron's career. The 2014 NCAA singles champion teamed with former Virginia player JC Aragone to claim another Challenger title when the pair earned the doubles title at Indian Wells, Calif. Giron also had a memorable week at the BNP Paribas Open, where he made an improbable run to the Round of 32 after advancing through qualifiers. For good measure, Nanda knocked off the recently-graduated Redlicki, 4-6, 7-6, 6-0, in the Tucson Futures singles final on Jan. 13.

HEAD COACH BILLY MARTIN
Head coach Billy Martin is in his 26th season as head coach of the Bruins, and 36th on the staff. During his tenure, Martin's teams have accumulated 14 conference championships and the 2005 NCAA title. Just two of Martin's teams have finished outside of the top five teams at the season-ending NCAA Championships. They have also not finished outside of the top three teams in the Pac- 12 standings. He has earned Pac-12 Coach of the Year honors five times (1996, 2012-14, 2018) and the ITA National Coach of the Year award once (1996). Martin has also led three players (Benjamin Kohlloeffel in 2006, Marcos Giron in 2014 and Mackenzie McDonald in 2016) to the NCAA singles title and three pairs (Gimelstob-Muskatirovic in 1996, McDonald-Redlicki in 2016 and Redlicki-Zhu in 2018) to the NCAA doubles crown. An ITA Tennis Hall of Famer, Martin was named the "Junior Player of the Century" by Inside Tennis Magazine. Before turning pro, he played one season at UCLA (1975), during which the Bruins captured an NCAA team championship. He also won the NCAA singles championship. Martin holds an overall record of 582-122 (.827) overall and a 158-27 (.854) mark in Pac-12 play.