Baylor
UCLA
Men's Tennis Falters At No. 13 UCLA, 4-0
3/11/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The ninth-ranked Baylor men's tennis team suffered a 4-0 setback at No. 13 UCLA Saturday at the Sunset Canyon Tennis Courts.
Playing its third match on the road in less than a week, the Bears lost for the first time since Feb. 19.
The Bruins got out to an early advantage by winning the doubles point. The 26th-ranked pairing of Martin Redlicki and Evan Zhu bested BU's Juan Benitez and Will Little, 6-4, at the No. 1 spot to open the match. That decision was followed by Johannes Schretter and Jimmy Bendeck dropping a 6-3 contest to Maxime Cressy and Ben Goldberg on court three.
In singles play, Baylor lost five of six first sets and went on to drop three straight-set contests to lose the match.
First, Little lost 6-1, 6-4 against Logan Staggs on court four. Next, the 35th-ranked Tchoutakian lost for the first time in dual-match play, dropping a 6-4, 6-2 decision to Redlicki at the No. 2 spot.
To close out the match, No. 15 Benitez fell 6-4, 6-2 to the 11th-ranked Gage Brymer at the top of the lineup.
When the match was decided, freshman Constantin Frantzen held a 7-5, 4-4 advantage on court six over Cressy.
TOP QUOTE #1
"I have got to give UCLA a lot of credit, they took us to the woodshed today. They were just a lot better than us. That is why you play a good schedule, so you can learn these things about yourself. It was a tough environment on the road, but we have got to learn how to handle that stuff better." - head coach Matt Knoll on the match
TOP QUOTE #2
"All I know is we didn't have any chance to win the match. We had a little bit of a chance to win doubles and I think we were competitive at 5 and 6 singles. At 1, 2, 3 and 4, they really took it to us and you have to give them credit. They sort of out-focused us. We are a young group and we have to do a better job of being on the road. This team really hasn't been on the road that much. We played some neutral site matches, but this week of being on the road was a little bit different and I think it is something that we will certainly grow from." - Knoll on if the team's week of travel affecting the way they play
OTHER NOTABLES
- Baylor is now 13-3 on the season, while UCLA is 9-4.
- It was the first time that BU has been shutout in 2017.
- Baylor lost the doubles point for the fourth straight match.
- Baylor is now 2-1 in true road matches in 2017.
- Baylor is now 9-6 all-time against UCLA.
- Tchoutakian was 8-0 in dual-match singles play in 2017, before losing Saturday.
WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor will now play three matches in three days at the BNP Paribas Collegiate Challenge presented by Oracle in Indian Wells, Calif. The first match in that stretch will be Friday at 1 p.m. CT against SMU.
For more information on the Baylor men's tennis team all season long, follow the team's official Twitter and Instagram account: @BaylorMTennis.
Players Mentioned
