Men’s tennis players fail to reach final rounds of play in weekend tournaments
Junior Keegan Smith was UCLA men’s tennis’ lone representative at the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Beginning play Oct. 9, Smith advanced to the round of 16 before withdrawing because of a minor ankle injury. (Daily Bruin file photo)
By Andreas Papoutsis
Oct. 14, 2019 12:03 a.m.
The Bruins didn’t advance very far in Santa Barbara.
UCLA men’s tennis sent five players to compete in the UCSB Classic this weekend, but had no players advance to the final rounds of their respective draws. Coach Billy Martin said the team’s performance did not live up to expectations.
“I have to say it was a very disappointing weekend,” Martin said. “Maybe we had some excuses, or whatever, but it was not good.”
Redshirt freshman Blaine Hovenier began his campaign with a bye into the second round of the C Flight Singles and defeated UC Santa Barbara’s Josh Williams 6-2, 6-4. His opening round win was his first as a Bruin, after redshirting his first year.
His tournament run came to an end in the following round, falling to Oregon’s Evan Felcher 6-3, 1-6, 2-6 in the third round. Because of his third round appearance, Hovenier was the only player who did not make an appearance in the consolation brackets.
“I’m super excited about the win,” Hovenier said. “But everyone saw what we need to work on in these coming weeks.”
Junior Bryce Pereira conceded his opening match in the B Flight Singles to Fresno State’s Johannes Seeman 2-6, 6-7(4). He had a similar fate in the consolation bracket, losing to Cal Poly’s Roman Shenkiryk in 4-6, 4-6 straight sets. Pereira concluded his tournament with a consolation loss to Stanford’s Tomas Kopczynski.
Sophomores Mathew Tsolakyan, Max Wild and Eric Hahn all recorded opening round losses.
“It’s better to find out now that we have some things to work on,” Martin said. “Whether it’s getting in better shape or something in our games, we need to get working on that.”
ITA Men’s All-American Championships
Junior Keegan Smith won his first two singles matches at the ITA All-American Championships, but had to withdraw because of a minor ankle injury. Martin said he did not want to risk Smith’s health early on in the season.
“He had an ankle problem, obviously nothing severe,” Martin said. “I just didn’t want to take a chance and risk it. He’s got a lot of tennis ahead of him.”
UCLA will now prepare for the ITA Regional Championships in Malibu on Thursday.
