Clay Thompson helps UCLA tennis to Stanford win on Senior Day

Hardly one to hide his raw emotions or neglect pumping up a crowd, Clay Thompson tossed back his headband, racket and any tennis balls in his pockets before shaking his opponent’s hand at the end of his final Pac-12 home match. Thompson’s trademark demonstration concluded a 4-0 win over Stanford that kept the No. 3 Bruins’ lone competing senior front and center from start to interlude and finish.

The nation’s No. 1 singles player teamed with freshman Joe DiGiulio for the first of two UCLA doubles wins before serving for the Bruins’ clinching victory in singles. Thompson and the rest of the team’s seniors were honored between the doubles and singles portions of the match near Court 1, embracing coaches and taking pictures to commemorate their careers as Bruins.

“I’ve really grown to love playing in front of the crowds here. … It’s really going to be tough for me to say goodbye to them,” said Thompson, a Southern California native who had many family members in attendance for what he considered a “really special” day.

Thompson’s match-finishing game against Daniel Ho, a player that the senior has competed against for almost 14 years, served as a prototypical display of the self-proclaimed “power, flashy” style Thompson boasts. Thompson opened up with an ace then enjoyed a netted response to his next serve for a 30-0 lead. A double fault handed Ho a free point, but Thompson would take the next point on a volley before closing the match and breaking out his year-old post-win ritual.

Thompson’s 6-1, 6-3 victory encapsulated a dominant collective UCLA display. Redshirt sophomore Karue Sell, who notched a 6-1, 6-1 singles win, felt that he made good on a mission to prove that he is not the same player who lost his only set to Stanford in February’s rain-cancelled, 1-1 meeting between the Bruins and Cardinal. Coach Billy Martin saw a much-improved, team-wide effort.

“(Last time), my expectations weren’t great as far as what our (performance) was going to be. We came out real tentative,” Martin said. “I think our guys were ready and wanted to come out (today) and play a better match against them and I think we really did.”

Freshman Mackenzie McDonald was the Bruin closest to losing a set, prevailing in a 10-8 tiebreaker fraught with netted returns and balls knocked out of bounds. Outside of McDonald, only DiGiulio lost more than three games in a singles set.

Cavalry in question

Martin revealed during Saturday’s senior ceremony that Adrien Puget is under consideration for redshirting this season. The senior, who had been a top-three player for the Bruins, whom Martin considers among his team’s best doubles players, has not played a single game in rehabbing from knee surgery.

“The big question is whether Adrien comes back. If Adrien comes back, we’re going to change something,” Martin said.

The coach added that he will decided on Puget’s status within the next two to three weeks, prior to the start of the NCAA tournament.