UCLA men’s tennis has good showing at indoor qualifier
In one of his matches against Wisconsin, freshman Mackenzie McDonald said he “lost concentration,” but finished strong for the win.
By Anay Dattawadkar
Jan. 27, 2014 12:00 a.m.
Last weekend, UCLA men’s tennis’ freshman Mackenzie McDonald scored arguably the biggest victory of his young college career, knocking off the No. 2 player in the nation, Julien Lenz. It was a huge win for the freshman, who attributed his success to strong mental focus and positivity.
McDonald opened his first match of this weekend’s National Team Indoor Tournament qualification play with much of the same focus, dominating his opponent, Wisconsin’s Oskar Wikberg, en route to a 6-2 first-set victory. His performance mirrored that of his fellow Bruins, who ran rampant over Wisconsin in a 5-0 victory – one that was followed up by a 4-0 Sunday win over Texas Tech that punched UCLA’s ticket to next month’s National Indoor Championships.
Mcdonald’s second set against Wikberg seemed destined to be a similarly foregone conclusion as he took a sizeable lead once again. But then McDonald began to slip up, unable to deliver the finishing blow.
“I kind of lost concentration looking at the scoreboard, and that can be dangerous,” McDonald said. “I kind of sped things up and let (Wikberg) back in the match. It’s something that I need to tighten up in the future. ”
Wikberg clawed back into the set, coming all the way back to even the set at 5-5, forcing a tiebreaker. With that threat looming over him, however, McDonald responded handily, going up 6-0 in the tiebreaker. But then, just one point short of claiming victory in the match and clinching the day for the Bruins, McDonald wavered again.
Wikberg won one point. Then another. Two more came in quick succession and all of a sudden the momentum seemed to have swung back to his side. With the score at 6-4, McDonald served – and faulted. It seemed almost inevitable that Wikberg would force a third set.
In danger of being swept away by the waves of momentum, McDonald slowed things down. He took his time, concentrating on what he wanted to do on the next point.
McDonald delivered a serve that Wikberg could only weakly parry back. Seeing his chance, the freshman advanced into the service box, delivering an untouchable volley to the right side that slammed the door on Wikberg’s comeback and ended the match.
The return of McDonald’s focus allowed him to prevent the match from getting away from him. Yet the fact that McDonald even allowed the match to get so close disappointed coach Billy Martin, who believed that a player of McDonald’s caliber shouldn’t waste energy by letting his opponent linger on the court.
Martin noticed such mental errors up and down the lineup, something he cited could lead to trouble against bigger opponents and bigger teams.
“I’m always trying to make sure the guys keep their focus constant throughout a match,” Martin said. “When we play Virginia, USC, some of those top teams, a lapse in concentration sometimes means the difference between a victory and a loss in those tough, tough, matches.”
McDonald seemed to take Martin’s chiding to heart, as he came out and dominated his Texas Tech opponent the next day, taking a straight-set victory, 6-2, 6-3. His mental focus on Sunday was a sign of what the Bruins will want to do next weekend, as they take on No. 14 Florida and No. 3 Georgia in the Pac-12/SEC Challenge.
“We needed this momentum heading into next week,” said junior Ryoto Tachi, of the weekend’s play. “Even though we’re the No. 2 team in the nation, we need all the momentum we can get.”
