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Men’s tennis falls to USC, loses home match for first time since 2015

Before Sunday’s loss, redshirt senior Ben Goldberg hadn’t lost a home match his whole career. Even with the loss, Goldberg won a singles point for No. 17 UCLA men’s tennis, winning 7-6(4), 6-2 on court three. (Andy Bao/Daily Bruin)

Men's Tennis


No. 9 USC4
No. 17 UCLA3

By Jack Nelson

March 1, 2021 1:49 p.m.

For the first time in nearly six years, the Bruins lost a home match.

No. 17 UCLA men’s tennis (3-2) fell 4-3 to No. 9 USC (10-3) in a down to the wire match that clocked in at nearly four hours. The Trojans snapped what was a 68-match home winning streak for the Bruins, dating back to May 8, 2015.

When the crosstown rivals last met during the 2021 ITA Kickoff Weekend at USC on Jan. 25, UCLA pulled off the upset to grab the doubles point but was unable to recreate that win Sunday. On court three, UCLA’s senior duo of Connor Rapp and Bryce Pereira dropped a 6-4 decision to USC’s Sean Holt and Colter Smith. Senior Keegan Smith and junior Patrick Zahraj followed suit with a 6-4 loss to Daniel Cukierman and Riley Smith on court one, giving the Trojans the 1-0 advantage heading into singles play.

In the atmosphere of this intense rivalry, Keegan Smith said controlling emotions is key.

“I think in the doubles I didn’t do a great job of it, I was maybe too calm,” Smith said. “You just have to find that middle ground of caring too much and not caring.”

The Bruins then proceeded to win five of six first sets in singles play, with grad transfer Sam Feit being the exception on court four. Feit’s match was the first to finish, as USC’s Bradley Frye defeated him 6-2, 6-3 and expanded the Trojans’ lead to 2-0.

In response, UCLA swept one of the top front court trios in all of college tennis. No. 1 Cukierman, No. 19 Riley Smith and No. 26 Bulis were each handed straight-set losses.

Sophomore Drew Baird got the Bruins on the scoreboard by defeating Riley Smith 6-3, 6-4 on court two. Through his first three singles matches of the season, Baird has yet to drop a set.

UCLA’s Smith then knotted up the match score at two apiece by dispatching Cukierman, the top-ranked singles player in the nation. He took the match 6-2, 7-5 after holding off a late push from the Trojan.

After losing to Cukierman in late January, Keegan Smith said he had no intention of staying in the loss column.

“I was bummed I lost last time to him, so I wasn’t gonna lose twice in a row,” Keegan Smith said. “I’m pretty confident going against him any day of the week.”

Having gone against Cukierman eight times in four seasons, coach Billy Martin said he understood the quality of Keegan Smith’s win.

“I know Daniel Cukierman and there’s no tougher out in college tennis than this young man,” Martin said. “Any time you can beat that young man, you’ve obviously played a great match.”

Redshirt senior Ben Goldberg completed the front court sweep by defeating Bulis 7-6(4), 6-2 on court three. Following a 6-2, 6-2 loss to UC Santa Barbara’s Victor Krustev, Goldberg said he felt like he was really clicking in today’s outing.

“I still think my best tennis is ahead of me, but emotionally and energy-wise, A+,” Goldberg said. “Firing myself up every point, I enjoyed every second out there.”

The Bruins had reeled off three consecutive points, but their momentum came to a halt at court five.

Junior Roscoe Bellamy took the first set 7-5 but lost the next two to give Lodewijk Weststrate a 5-7, 6-4, 6-0 win, evening the score at 3-3. The fate of the match rested with Zahraj on court six.

On April 5, 2019 – UCLA’s last home match against USC – then-freshman Zahraj was also the last Bruin standing. He rose to the task with a 7-6(4), 5-7, 7-6(9-7) win over Riley Smith to earn his team a 4-3 win.

In this chapter of the crosstown rivalry, he couldn’t repeat history – Zahraj fell by the hand of Jake Sands 7-5, 5-7, 3-6.

Bellamy and Zahraj both had to quarantine for two weeks earlier this season after testing positive for COVID-19, and Martin said he knows the physical consequences have not been forgiving.

“The problem at the end of the match is what my biggest fear is, and that’s our conditioning,” Martin said. “It was a lot for me to ask for them to go out and think that they could pull this off, especially if they go a long three-set match. Obviously, they just didn’t have it.”

In his fifth year with the program, Goldberg had never lost as a team in Westwood. Given that history, he said he knows what it means for the streak to end.

“To be honest, it’s crushing right now that that streak is over because we were so close to keeping it going,” Goldberg said. “It says a lot, you know, we protect the home courts.”

Another notable streak does remain alive for the Bruins. Since March 25, 2016, UCLA has assembled 31 straight wins in Pac-12 regular season play. UCLA will have the chance to keep that going when it hosts Utah on March 12, but UNLV is on tap as its upcoming opponent.

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Jack Nelson | Sports senior staff
Nelson is currently a Sports senior staff writer. He was previously an assistant Sports editor on the softball, men's tennis and women's tennis beats and a contributor on the men's tennis and women's tennis beats.
Nelson is currently a Sports senior staff writer. He was previously an assistant Sports editor on the softball, men's tennis and women's tennis beats and a contributor on the men's tennis and women's tennis beats.
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