Men’s tennis rallies from 0-2 hole to move on in NCAAs

Rain forced the UCLA men’s tennis team to relocate from Athens, Ga. to Atlanta for its NCAA quarterfinals match Sunday. A one-and-a-half hour trip factored into a match start time more than two hours later than originally planned.

The No. 6-seeded Bruins seemed to start their day even later, losing out on the doubles point and seeing No. 1 singles player Clay Thompson fall in two tightly contested sets en route to an 0-2 deficit against No. 3 seed Ohio State. UCLA proceeded to earn four consecutive singles points in prevailing 4-2 and earning a semifinal showdown with Oklahoma Monday at 6 p.m. EST.

A mixture of youth and experience along the back end of the singles lineup carried UCLA on a night when the top two players in the nation went winless. Senior Adrien Puget and redshirt sophomore Karue Sell, returners from last year’s NCAA title runner-up team, tied the match with straight-set wins that redeemed their doubles -clinching tiebreaker loss.

UCLA’s freshmen proceeded to take the spotlight. Gage Brymer, the only winning singles player for UCLA who did not win his first set, capped off the team’s rally by serving for the final point of a 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 comeback of his own. Fellow first-year Mackenzie McDonald provided UCLA’s penultimate point with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 victory.

“I couldn’t be prouder of the two freshmen,” said coach Billy Martin, whose team also defeated Tennessee in the Round of 16 Friday. “In this arena, under this much pressure, they held up really well.”

Brymer found himself playing tight and missing numerous net shots against an opponent who thrived on long points. When he ceased to make “silly” mistakes, Brymer took control of his match in the second set.

Brymer’s momentum nearly screeched to a halt toward the end of his third set, missing on three match-points when up 5-3. He went on to collect himself and capitalize on his fourth match-point by serving for UCLA’s win.

Martin expressed that while Brymer is a freshman, his player’s high degree of conditioning gives the coach confidence that he can thrive in games coming down to the wire.

“Any time he goes to three sets, I’m very confident with Gage,”Martin said. “I almost feel it’s an asset when we go to three sets with either (Brymer or junior Marcos Giron), ’cause nobody is going to out-physical (him).”

With the rains forcing UCLA into an indoor match, Martin thought his Bruins to be at disadvantage against an Ohio State team more familiar with the surface.

“It’s a nightmare to play these guys,” Martin said. “I wasn’t really happy to have to play them indoors, I think they’re an even better team indoors.”

Martin eventually saw how little the change bothered his team.

McDonald took a liking to the faster play style of the indoor courts. His view on the more intimate environment demonstrated no freshman delay in embracing the big stage.

“Playing indoors made it so much louder, so the crowds were pretty crazy,” McDonald said.

“The stakes are higher here, which was good because I fed off of it, had the adrenaline going. That’s good for my game.”