Men’s tennis heads to ITA Regional Championships in search of win
Redshirt junior Connor Rapp will play in his second fall tournament of the new season as the Bruins head to Malibu. Rapp and his doubles partner junior Bryce Pereira won the doubles main draw of the Aztec Fall Invitational that was played from Oct. 4-6 in San Diego. (Andy Bao/Daily Bruin)
By Andreas Papoutsis
Oct. 17, 2019 12:33 a.m.
The Bruins will travel back north.
UCLA men’s tennis will send six players to compete at the ITA Regional Championships at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center in Malibu this weekend. After no Bruins managed to advance to the final rounds of their respective draws at the UCSB Classic, coach Billy Martin said he hopes his team can string some wins together.
“I hope to see some winning,” Martin said. “We didn’t look very sharp up at Santa Barbara and the competition is going to be stronger this weekend.”
Redshirt junior Connor Rapp will make his return to the court this Thursday for the second time this season, after winning the doubles championship with junior Bryce Pereira at the Aztec Fall Invitational on Oct. 4-6. Rapp said the team will have to continue acclimating to competition after a long summer break.
“For a lot of those guys, it was the first tournament of the fall,” Rapp said. “But hopefully with more experience under our belts, we’ll be able to pick it up.”
Unlike the majority of the dual-match season, many preseason tournaments will require players to take the court for multiple matches per day.
Despite the increase in time spent on the court, Rapp said any type of match play is helpful in preparation for the spring season.
“It’s just a different feel, but you want to play as many matches as you can during the fall,” Rapp said. “You get experience, confidence and all that stuff under your belt.”
Freshman Drew Baird will play in his second competition of the preseason and said he hopes to use tournaments like these to acclimate to collegiate tennis.
“It’s definitely a lot different than high school,” Baird said. “But at the end of the day, your goal is to improve and see the big picture.”
Sophomore Patrick Zahraj, sophomore Max Wild, senior Ben Goldberg, and redshirt freshman Blaine Hovenier will round out the group being sent to Malibu.
Hovenier notched his first collegiate victory last weekend and was the only Bruin to win his opening round match at the UCSB Classic. Martin said Hovenier will look to improve on the progress made in Santa Barbara.
“It’s all brand new for him, but he’s very excited,” Martin said. “He’s like a kid in a candy store and obviously getting a couple wins up there was great for his confidence.”
Hovenier was unable to see match action last season, but Martin said his improvement in the offseason has been impressive.
“He’s about as hard of a worker as we have on our team,” Martin said. “He’s improved as much as anybody over the summer, and it’s showing.”
Match play in Malibu will begin Thursday.
