Men’s tennis rolls past Grand Canyon to begin NCAA tournament
Sophomore Keegan Smith claimed a 6-3, 6-3 singles win over Grand Canyon’s Mathieu Rojaonah in UCLA’s first match of NCAA tourney play. The win marked Smith’s 22nd singles win of the season. (Andy Bao/Daily Bruin)
Men's tennis
| UCLA | 4 |
| Grand Canyon | 0 |
By Jared Tay
May 3, 2019 6:32 p.m.
Comeback wins weren’t necessary this time.
No. 11 seed UCLA men’s tennis (18-5, 8-0 Pac-12) defeated Grand Canyon (19-7, 5-0 WAC) by a score of 4-0 on Friday afternoon to advance to the second round of the NCAA tournament.
The match lasted just over one and a half hours as the Bruins defeated the Antelopes for the second time this season at the Los Angeles Tennis Center. The two teams had met previously in nonconference play on Feb. 26.
The Bruins defeated the Antelopes 4-2 in their first meeting after comeback wins at No. 4, 5, and 6 singles – as senior Maxime Cressy and sophomore Keegan Smith were absent from the lineup. This time, the Bruins claimed a shutout 4-0 victory with their full squad, with every Bruin was leading their opponent as the match was called.
Coach Billy Martin said the shutout victory over Grand Canyon doesn’t indicate that his full lineup is especially dangerous.
“(The Grand Canyon) team is good, but compared to the top 30 or 40 teams in the tournament, they’ve got to be in the bottom third,” Martin said. “They won their conference and that’s how they got in. But, (UCLA) was prepared and we didn’t play down to their level.”
The Bruins won the doubles point to begin the match as No. 2 and No. 3 doubles claimed 6-1 victories.
Junior Ben Goldberg was the first player to give the Bruins a win in singles with his win over Grand Canyon’s Freddie Grant 6-0, 6-2.
“In the NCAA tournament, there’s no tomorrow if you don’t bring it,” Goldberg said. “It was an efficient match today for the team. The goal for today was get in, get out, be efficient and be smart.”
Sophomore Keegan Smith followed suit and picked up the Bruins’ third win after defeating Grand Canyon’s Mathieu Rajaonah by a score of 6-3, 6-3. Smith said his opponent’s playstyle was difficult to handle.
“His (game style) was a little unorthodox and I was getting upset,” Smith said. “He’s a good player and you have to give respect to everyone you play – I was maybe doing a poor job of that. There was one backhand winner that he ripped down the line (out of nowhere), but sometimes you have to forget about the last point and move to the next one.”
Cressy clinched the shutout win for the Bruins with a 6-1, 6-4 win over the Antelopes’ Lorenzo Fucile.
UCLA advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament and will face Oklahoma State (16-11, 1-4 Big 12). Goldberg said that the OSU lineup will pose a more dangerous threat.
“(OSU) is very hungry, and they’ve had many good wins this year,” Goldberg said. “They’re full of potential and talent up and down their lineup.”
The Cowboys are ranked No. 25 in the nation and completed an upset win over No. 7 TCU at the Big 12 championships in mid-April.
“Every match gets significantly tougher,” Martin said. “A reality check (for the Bruins) is coming. Tomorrow: Will it be the end of the season, or will we live to play one more?”
The match against the Cowboys will begin at 3 p.m. on Saturday at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.
