Friday, April 6
Los Angeles, CA
3:00 PM
USC
3
vs
4
UCLA
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
Photo by: John McGillen
No. 2 UCLA Edges Out No. 13 USC Men 4-3
April 06, 2018 | Men's Tennis, Features
Trojans and Bruins played an epic battle in front of a packed house at Marks Stadium.
LOS ANGELES, CALIF. — The No. 13 USC men's tennis team had an epic battle with crosstown rival UCLA today, going toe-to-toe with the No. 2 Bruins before the visitors managed a late winning move to snag a 4-3 victory over the Trojans at Marks Stadium. The Trojans snagged a tense doubles point and held a 2-1 lead early in singles action, but the Bruins answered back and eventually got the clincher in a three-setter on court five. USC goes to 12-7 overall and to 3-2 in Pac-12 play with the loss, while UCLA improves to 20-2, 4-0.
Doubles was drama-packed as it all came down to a tiebreaker on court one. USC's #24 Jack Jaede and Laurens Verboven drilled out a 6-2 win on court two over UCLA's #11 A. Rapp/Smith. The Bruins countered from court three, firing back with a 6-3 decision to tangle things up on Cressy/Pereira's victory over USC's Daniel Cukierman and Tanner Smith. That left all the action raging on court one, where USC's #9 Brandon Holt and Riley Smith battled back from a 1-4 deficit on the way to a tiebreaker to decide the doubles point. In the breaker, UCLA's #36 Redlicki/Zhu got up 5-2 only to see the Trojans rattle off the next five points to press on to victory and notch a 1-0 lead for USC on their 7-6 (5) win at the No. 1 spot.
UCLA would level things with a straight-set singles win on court three, as #46 Keegan Smith topped USC's Jack Jaede with a 6-3, 6-2 decision. Matches were tightening up on all over courts, except that of Laurens Verboven, who hammered out a 6-3, 6-0 win over UCLA's #69 Logan Staggs to lift the Trojans back ahead, up 2-1. The Bruins would answer back again, however, with #84 Evan Zhu getting a late surge against USC's #75 Daniel Cukierman for a 6-2, 7-5 win on court two to make it 2-2. At the top spot, USC's #13 Brandon Holt was pressing the issue against UCLA's #1 Martin Redlicki, looking to force a third set with a tense tiebreaker. In an extended breaker, Redlicki got the last word with a power move to take the match 6-3, 7-6 (8) and get UCLA a 3-2 advantage. That left two three-setters in action at the bottom of the lineup. USC's Riley Smith had gutted out a second-set tiebreaker against Maxime Cressy to pull his court five match into a third, while Thibault Forget was in a good position in his court six battle against UCLA's Connor Hance. He'd press on to tie the match up once again, netting a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 win over Hance to lock it up at 3-3 and put all eyes on court five. After a 2-2 lockup in the third, Cressy was able to hold and pull off a break of Smith, then made a winning move to clinch the match for the Bruins on a 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-2 win that got the 4-3 win for the visitors.
USC's next action takes the Trojans to Arizona next week, facing the Wildcats on Friday (April 13) and the Sun Devils on Sunday (April 15) in more Pac-12 play.
#2 UCLA 4, #13 USC 3
April 6, 2018 | Marks Stadium (Los Angeles, Calif.)
DOUBLES
(1) #9 Holt/R. Smith (USC) def. #36 Redlicki/Zhu (UCLA) - 7-6 (5)
(2) #24 Jaede/Verboven (USC) def. #11 A. Rapp/Smith (UCLA) - 6-2
(3) Cressy/Pereira (UCLA) def. Cukierman/T. Smith (USC) - 6-3
USC wins doubles point.
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1
SINGLES
(1) #1 Martin Redlicki (UCLA) def. #13 Brandon Holt (USC) - 6-3, 7-6 (8)
(2) #84 Evan Zhu (UCLA) def. #75 Daniel Cukierman (USC) - 6-2, 7-5
(3) #46 Keegan Smith (UCLA) def. Jack Jaede (USC) - 6-3, 6-2
(4) Laurens Verboven (USC) def. #69 Logan Staggs (UCLA) - 6-3, 6-0
(5) Maxime Cressy (UCLA) def. Riley Smith (USC) - 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-2*
(6) Thibault Forget (USC) def. Connor Hance (UCLA) - 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
Order of finish: 3, 4, 2, 1, 6, 5*
Doubles was drama-packed as it all came down to a tiebreaker on court one. USC's #24 Jack Jaede and Laurens Verboven drilled out a 6-2 win on court two over UCLA's #11 A. Rapp/Smith. The Bruins countered from court three, firing back with a 6-3 decision to tangle things up on Cressy/Pereira's victory over USC's Daniel Cukierman and Tanner Smith. That left all the action raging on court one, where USC's #9 Brandon Holt and Riley Smith battled back from a 1-4 deficit on the way to a tiebreaker to decide the doubles point. In the breaker, UCLA's #36 Redlicki/Zhu got up 5-2 only to see the Trojans rattle off the next five points to press on to victory and notch a 1-0 lead for USC on their 7-6 (5) win at the No. 1 spot.
UCLA would level things with a straight-set singles win on court three, as #46 Keegan Smith topped USC's Jack Jaede with a 6-3, 6-2 decision. Matches were tightening up on all over courts, except that of Laurens Verboven, who hammered out a 6-3, 6-0 win over UCLA's #69 Logan Staggs to lift the Trojans back ahead, up 2-1. The Bruins would answer back again, however, with #84 Evan Zhu getting a late surge against USC's #75 Daniel Cukierman for a 6-2, 7-5 win on court two to make it 2-2. At the top spot, USC's #13 Brandon Holt was pressing the issue against UCLA's #1 Martin Redlicki, looking to force a third set with a tense tiebreaker. In an extended breaker, Redlicki got the last word with a power move to take the match 6-3, 7-6 (8) and get UCLA a 3-2 advantage. That left two three-setters in action at the bottom of the lineup. USC's Riley Smith had gutted out a second-set tiebreaker against Maxime Cressy to pull his court five match into a third, while Thibault Forget was in a good position in his court six battle against UCLA's Connor Hance. He'd press on to tie the match up once again, netting a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 win over Hance to lock it up at 3-3 and put all eyes on court five. After a 2-2 lockup in the third, Cressy was able to hold and pull off a break of Smith, then made a winning move to clinch the match for the Bruins on a 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-2 win that got the 4-3 win for the visitors.
USC's next action takes the Trojans to Arizona next week, facing the Wildcats on Friday (April 13) and the Sun Devils on Sunday (April 15) in more Pac-12 play.
#2 UCLA 4, #13 USC 3
April 6, 2018 | Marks Stadium (Los Angeles, Calif.)
DOUBLES
(1) #9 Holt/R. Smith (USC) def. #36 Redlicki/Zhu (UCLA) - 7-6 (5)
(2) #24 Jaede/Verboven (USC) def. #11 A. Rapp/Smith (UCLA) - 6-2
(3) Cressy/Pereira (UCLA) def. Cukierman/T. Smith (USC) - 6-3
USC wins doubles point.
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1
SINGLES
(1) #1 Martin Redlicki (UCLA) def. #13 Brandon Holt (USC) - 6-3, 7-6 (8)
(2) #84 Evan Zhu (UCLA) def. #75 Daniel Cukierman (USC) - 6-2, 7-5
(3) #46 Keegan Smith (UCLA) def. Jack Jaede (USC) - 6-3, 6-2
(4) Laurens Verboven (USC) def. #69 Logan Staggs (UCLA) - 6-3, 6-0
(5) Maxime Cressy (UCLA) def. Riley Smith (USC) - 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-2*
(6) Thibault Forget (USC) def. Connor Hance (UCLA) - 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
Order of finish: 3, 4, 2, 1, 6, 5*
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