Men’s tennis defeats Indiana, San Diego, qualifies for ITA National Championships

After winning the ITA Kick-Off Weekend, the Bruins have qualified for the ITA National Indoor Championships.

Playing in both the No. 1 singles and doubles spot, senior Maxime Cressy led No. 7 UCLA men’s tennis (2-0) to 4-1 victories over both Indiana and the University of San Diego on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Cressy’s serve was not broken the entire weekend.

“My serve is my weapon,” Cressy said. “It enables me to win at least one game out of every two. I just need to break my opponent once, and in my mind, the set is over. On good days, I don’t see myself being broken.”

With their wins, the Bruins secured a spot in the ITA National Division I Team Indoor Championship in mid-February.

Cressy’s serving on Friday against Indiana led him and his partner – sophomore Keegan Smith – to a 6-3 victory over their first opponents, Patrick Fletchall and Brandon Lam.

The duo’s win on the No. 1 doubles court helped secure the doubles point for the Bruins, since the No. 2 team of junior Ben Goldberg and freshman Govind Nanda fell to their opponents by a score of 6-4. Nanda’s serve was broken twice that match.

“It’s tough when you have two smaller guys playing together to hold serve,” Nanda said. “We don’t get as many free points. We’ll find it eventually, but we have to work hard for all of our points.”

The Bruins’ top courts led the team to victory in singles. Cressy defeated Antonio Cembellin 6-2, 6-1 at No. 1 singles. Nanda, who played in the No. 3 spot, tallied his first dual-match win, triumphing over Brandon Lam, 6-4, 6-2.

Sophomore Connor Hance was forced to retire from his singles match due to a foot injury. Coach Billy Martin said he is hopeful that more details on the severity of Hance’s injury will be available Monday.

Smith clinched the victory for UCLA with a win over Indiana’s Bennett Crane, 7-6 (2), 6-2.

On Saturday, UCLA squared off against San Diego, who was fresh off a 4-0 sweep of unranked Ole Miss on Friday.

The Bruins were unable to able to clinch the doubles point and fell behind San Diego 1-0 early on. The team of Cressy and Smith was the only doubles team to emerge victorious for the Bruins, defeating Nico Borter and Gui Osorio, 6-3.

Martin said that psychologically, even losing one point from doubles can be devastating.

“Against the top teams, it’s hard enough to win even three singles matches, much less four,” Martin said. “I was extremely proud to get this win after dropping the doubles point, because we have such a young team and you just don’t know how they’re going to react after losing the doubles point.”

Freshman Mathew Tsolakyan tied the match score 1-1 with his victory over San Diego’s Guus Koevermans, 6-3, 6-3.

“(Tsolakyan) has really stepped up and done a good job, not just at No. 6 singles but also No. 5,” Martin said. “Out at Sherwood, he gave me lots of confidence with two great wins, and he showed me he really deserved that last lineup spot.”

The top court of the Bruins once again led their team to the win. Nanda finished the weekend undefeated in singles with a win against Borter. Meanwhile, Cressy serve-and-volleyed his way to a 6-2, 6-4 victory on the No. 1 singles court.

“When I serve-and-volley, I take advantage of my speed,” Cressy said. “My serves bounce high so most guys return high balls that I can volley. When I’m at the net, their only option is to either lob or hit a passing shot, and that’s not high-percentage tennis for them.”

Smith mounted a comeback on the No. 2 singles court after trailing 0-3 in the first set, and his 6-4, 6-4 victory won the match for the Bruins.

With the first of the dual matches under their its belt, UCLA will play a doubleheader at home against BYU and Saint Mary’s on Saturday.