Men’s tennis prepares to face Georgia, Florida with lineup undecided

The UCLA men’s tennis co-captain, junior Mackie McDonald, flexed his wrist and demonstrated his newfound mobility Wednesday morning after team conditioning.

He suffered a wrist fracture back in mid-December and now enough time has passed that he might be eligible to play in his first dual match of the season with the Bruins this weekend: the third annual Southeastern Conference/Pac-12 Challenge.

The No. 12-ranked Bruins will face formidable No. 6 Georgia and No. 20 Florida in this weekend’s dual matches. Hopefully, with the help of McDonald.

“I’m doing my best this week to prepare, but we’ll just see if I’m ready that day. It will be a day-decision (rather) than right now,” McDonald said. “These are two good teams that we lost to last year. I know Georgia; they’re really strong this year. Hopefully I can play in that.”

McDonald was expected to return to play last weekend in the Bruins’ dual matches against the SMU Mustangs and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, but was not cleared to play.

“I still had pain,” McDonald said. “I got an X-ray and there was a fracture there so we had to take some more time off.”

McDonald is an All-American and was the Pac-12 Player of the Year last season. He has not been cleared to play as of Wednesday.

The SEC/Pac-12 Challenge features two of the top ranked teams from the SEC and Pac-12. The Bulldogs (3-1) and the Gators (3-1) are consistently tough opponents. At last year’s SEC/Pac-12 Challenge in Athens, Georgia, the Bruins lost to the Bulldogs 4-2 and the Gators 4-3.

LAST SEASON: Read the wrap from 2015’s losses in SEC play.

The Bulldogs have three top-50 singles players in No. 20 Wayne Montgomery, No. 28 Austin Smith and No. 40 Paul Oosterbaan. They also have a pair of top-50 doubles teams – Ben Wagland and Smith, ranked No. 10, and Montgomery and Emil Reinberg, ranked No. 45.

Additionally, the Gators have two top-50 singles players – No. 31 Diego Hidalgo and No. 49 Elliott Orkin – and two top-50 doubles teams – Gordon Watson and Hidalgo, ranked No. 3, and Maxx Lipman and Orkin, ranked No. 40.

“Both have very good depth and very good doubles teams,” said coach Billy Martin. “So obviously they are stronger at the bottom of the lineup as well as good at the very top (of the lineup).”

Martin said he has not decided the lineup for the weekend yet, but certain players have stood out to him in the previous dual matches. One in particular is junior Joseph Di Giulio.

Di Giulio went undefeated last weekend in both singles and doubles play against SMU and Georgia Tech.

In doubles, Di Giulio and senior Karue Sell beat SMU’s Hunter Johnson and Yates Johnson, 6-3. In singles, Di Giulio defeated Georgia Tech’s Cole Fiegel, 6-2, 6-4.

“This summer, and as of lately, I’ve been working on my game. So it’s starting to come together a little bit,” Di Giulio said. “I’m happy the way I’m playing out on the court, and I’m actually implementing some of the things I’m been working on in practice with coach (Martin). I just have to keep focusing on how I want to play in matches.”

Di Giulio’s success and hard work make Martin’s decision about the lineup all the more difficult if McDonald is factored into the lineup.

“It’s going to be one of my big decisions,” Martin said. “If we add somebody, who do we take out? We’ll see how the guys are playing this week. I want to see how everyone’s working, how everyone’s feeling.”

If McDonald does return this weekend, it seems likely that he would replace freshman Maxime Cressy as sophomore Martin Redlicki’s doubles partner. But his place in the singles lineup is less predictable.

“Those are the decisions that I don’t like to have to make,” Martin said. “But I have to go with my gut instinct.”