Men’s tennis struggles with singles play at ITA National Indoors
Freshman Martin Redlicki said that UCLA’s doubles play was its highlight during the team’s run at the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships this year. (Katie Meyers/Daily Bruin senior staff)
By Korbin Placet
Feb. 19, 2015 1:14 a.m.
It has been an unusual early season for the UCLA men’s tennis team.
Last season the Bruins finished with a record of 26-4. The season before that they finished 29-2. Their current record right now is 6-4. The last time UCLA had a season with more than four losses was in 2011. They are on pace for what could be one of their worst seasons in years.
A lot of the early season struggles for the Bruins can be attributed to their singles play.
Coach Billy Martin said that the Bruins need to learn to close and finish their singles matches. He said they have had too many opportunities to win the last couple of weekends, and that it is frustrating not seeing them win those pressure points.
At the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships last weekend, the No. 12 Bruins had match points during the singles portion against both the No. 8 North Carolina Tar Heels (9-3) and the No. 15 Ole Miss Rebels (5-2) that would have won them the dual matches, but failed to execute.
Despite early singles trouble, there is some positive this season: The Bruins’ doubles play. UCLA has won eight out of the ten doubles points this season, and it has won them definitively. Just this past weekend they beat three top 20 teams in the doubles point.
“Our doubles was our biggest positive,” said freshman Martin Redlicki. “We won all three of our doubles points which (coach Martin) told us that he doesn’t think that has ever happened in his time at (the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships).”
Martin said that if they can get their singles play where it needs to be, they will be able to compete and even beat the top teams in the country.
“We did better than we usually do against good schools,” said junior co-captain Karue Sell. “I think doubles-wise we are in pretty good shape and we just got to keep that up.”
Change in lineup
After UCLA fell to UNC at the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships, sophomore Gage Brymer came up to head coach Martin and assistant coach Grant Chen and asked to be taken out of the lineup for the remainder of the tournament. He told them that his performance this season has not been up to his usual play and that it would be best for the team if he didn’t play.
“We got there and he realized as much as anybody that he really isn’t playing well right now. He’s going need a little bit more time,” Martin said. “I think he was man enough to let us know as coaches that it would probably be better for our team to have him sit these matches. That’s a hard thing to do but he really cares about how we do as a team besides himself and was able to let us know that he thought that was the best.”
Last season Brymer had a record 18-3 during the season. Meanwhile, this season he has posted a record 1-3.
“He’s one of our best players and hardest workers and when he gets himself back in good shape and confident with his tennis, he’ll absolutely be a force for us, there’s no doubt about it,” Martin said.
With contributing reports by Matt Cummings, Bruin Sports contributor
