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McDonald Pulls Off the Double with Redlicki; Austin and Keegan Chomp up the Bears

by | May 31, 2016 | Blog | 0 comments

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The 2015-16 season officially came to a close on Sunday afternoon in Tulsa with both doubles finals ending in pretty lopsided matches (Photos Courtesy of Bill Kallenberg/Captured In Action).

UCLA junior Mackenzie McDonald and sophomore Martin Redlicki won the men’s doubles final with a straight set win over Texas A&M senior Jackson Withrow and sophomore Arthur Rinderknech. McDonald and Redlicki broke Rinderknech at love to go up 2-1 in the opening set and then after a series of holds Redlicki served out the opening set at love to take it 6-4.

McDonald and Redlicki broke Withrow on the deciding point to go up 2-1 in the second after McDonald hit a nice lob over Rinderknech’s head which then put the Aggie duo on the defensive. Play was stopped for roughly two minutes due to a few stray sprinkles but once play restarted McDonald held from 40-15 to put UCLA up 3-1. McDonald and Redlicki broke Rinderknech from 15-40 after a Rinderknech double fault and then Redlicki held at love for 5-1. McDonald and Redlicki went up 0-40 on Withrow’s serve but A&M worked the game back to the deciding point after a service winner and a pair of McDonald errors. McDonald redeemed himself on the deciding point by hitting a backhand return winner to give UCLA the 6-4, 6-1 win.

McDonald became the first guy to win both the singles and doubles titles in the same year since Georgia’s Matias Boeker did it in 2001.

MARTIN REDLICKI
On the feeling of being a national champion…
“There’s a lot of emotion running right now. On the court you tell yourself all the time one point at a time, just focus on every point and don’t let the moment get to you’ but it’s challenging especially when you’re in a championship match against a great team like the guys from A&M, and just being able to keep my composure down the stretch, Mackie (McDonald) as well. For him in singles and both of us in doubles I think it was just an incredible couple of weeks for us here in Tulsa and I’m really glad we were able to come up with the title. 
Words can’t describe it.
On takeover to win the first set…
“Honestly, I don’t think we changed much I just think we made more balls, were more consistent, placed our shots better, played smarter doubles and down the stretch we just turned it up a notch and were able to get it done.
Where does this rank as far as accomplishment in your life…
“This has to be, if not the most special, one of the top 5 most special moments in my tennis career. With overcoming adversity yes- terday, being able to fight it out, then coming out here and playing some of our best doubles in the championship match you just can’t really beat that and I’m just really happy and excited. I’m ecstatic right now.
MACKENZIE McDONALD
On getting this win for his doubles teammate after winning the singles title earlier today…
“I know how much we wanted this win. We really came out and took care of business. When I got back Marti got me in the right mindset and we did what we needed to do before the match and took care of it on the court.
On the last set…
“We played well. I feel like as the tournament progressed we played better and better with each match. We really didn’t play doubles much after the team event. We focused on the singles a little bit and didn’t practice that much in doubles with other people. Like I said,
I think we got better with each match and at the end I think we played our best tennis there and it showed with the score line. I’m really happy with how Marti returned and I really improved. We just played percentage tennis, made a lot of balls, and I served pretty well. We started using I-formation on me more, and it was good.
On being the 38th player since 1883 to win in both doubles and singles…
“It sounds pretty cool, I like it. I’m really happy with this accomplishment. This is unbelievable. I have always wanted to win something for UCLA and to bring back two trophies for them is really cool to me. I’ve always been a Bruin and this means a lot to me.
On where this day stacks up in this life…
“This is way up there for sure. It’ll be even better if Steph Curry wins the NBA championship.
CHAMPIONSHIP NOTES
This is the 11th time that a UCLA doubles team has won the NCAA doubles championship, and the first time since 1996 (Justin Gimelstob and Srdjan Muskatirovic).
Mackenzie McDonald won both the singles title and the doubles championships. It’s the 38th time that a player has won the singles and doubles championship since 1883.
The last time a player won both the singles and doubles titles was in 2001 when Georgia’s Matias Boeker won the singles and teamed with Travis Parrott to win the doubles crown.

Total attendance for the 12-day tournament was 9,783 fans.

Men’s Doubles Finals
#2 [2] Mackenzie McDonald-Martin Redlicki (UCLA) def. #8 Arthur Rinderknech-Jackson Withrow (Texas A&M) 6-4, 6-1
______________________________________________________________

Florida sophomore Brooke Austin and junior Kourtney Keegan won the women’s doubles final with a quick 54 minute win over Cal juniors Maegan Manasse and Denise Starr.

Austin and Keegan broke Manasse to start the match and then Keegan held for 2-0. Starr held for 1-2, Austin held for 3-1, and then Florida broke Manasse to go up 4-1. Starr held a few games later for 2-5 but Austin served out the set to make it 6-2. Austin and Keegan won all six games in the second set including a love hold by Keegan to seal the 6-2, 6-0 win.

BROOKE AUSTIN

On the feeling of being a national champion…
“I really don’t know what to say. I’m speechless. We have worked so hard ever since we lost in the semis last year and were up 4-1, 30 love in the third. I think that was in the back of our minds today especially towards the end once we got up 4-0 and I think that definitely propelled us to the end. We’ve worked so hard the whole year and I’m just so happy that we won and I really can’t believe it.
On the thoughts going into this year’s tournament after being eliminated when up 4-1 in the semifinals last year…
“Ever since match number one here, it’s definitely been in the back of our minds especially once we got further on in the tournament. Definitely yesterday, obviously once we got into the third set, but even in practice at home since then, every day we hear something about it. Our coach will be like 4-1 in the third you did this’, so I think every day we worked on something towards getting to this goal here and trying to let go of that 4-1 in the third last year.
On confidence going forward into second set after winning the first set…
“We started off really well and got up 2-0 pretty quickly and I thought we were poaching a lot and being aggressive doing all the plays Roland (Head Coach) told us to do and it was obviously working. I think that gave us a lot of confidence and we just kept doing it throughout the match and they made some errors and that gave us more confidence and we just tried to stay focus and it ended up working out for us.
On capturing the first doubles championship since 2001 for the traditional tennis rich University of Florida…
“I’m just speechless. Until yesterday I didn’t even know it had been 15 years since the last Florida team had been in the finals or won the tournament. So I’m just shocked that we won to be honest and I’m just so happy that we won.
On realization when you thought you would win during the match today…
“I knew at 5-0 once we got up 30 love in the game I was like alright we got this’ and then Maegan missed the next return and we had match point and I was like okay we can do this’ and then we won the next point.
KOURTNEY KEEGAN
On winning the national championship…
“I’m pretty speechless right now, honestly. It’s a dream come true. We just went out there and tried our hardest. We were confident in ourselves and we really wanted it. We’ve worked so hard throughout the year that it just all came together.
On how much thought they gave to losing in the semifinals last year…
“In this tournament? Every single match. It was kept in the back of our minds, because we were heart-broken last year. We really wanted it, and we were that close. Thinking about the finish line isn’t always the best idea. I think that was able to propel us forward and make us want it more and make us work harder. We came through with it.
On their first set…
“Especially in this kind of a match, everyone is going to be nervous on the court. I think going out there with a lot of confidence and starting out well early was key to the success throughout that whole set. Then in the second set, we started with a big lead as well, so that propelled us forward.
On winning the first doubles championship for Florida since 2001…
“Florida has always been known for their women’s tennis players. I think that being a part of something like the University of Florida is better than anyone can imagine. Being a part of that, and making history and being the first doubles team since 2001 is … I mean you can’t beat it.
On when they knew on the court today that they would win…
“For me, it was when she hit the ball out for match point, after we officially won it. It’s not over til it’s over. Going up 5-0 and serving, I was serving well all week, and I knew that I was going to be able to pull it out.

Additional Quotes from head coach Roland Thornqvist via Florida’s recap

On Austin and Keegan’s NCAA Doubles Championship today… 
“Obviously, I am incredibly proud of the performance today. They played like pros. They were very focused. They made virtually every return and cool under pressure. It really started coming together when they were down 4-1 in the first set against Arizona State. After that point, they locked in, they made first serves, they were poaching and they were really good in return games. 

I am really proud of them. Anytime you win a National Championship, you have to play well and play with courage and I am proud to say that is exactly what Kourtney and Brooke did today.”

Post-Match Quotes from Cal’s recap

“It’s a testament to the fantastic year our program had to compete on the last day of the season, Cal head coach Amanda Augustus said. “It’s a big honor to compete in an NCAA championship final. Denise and Maegan had a fantastic season, winning a doubles championship in the fall and a team national championship indoors in the spring. It’s been a fantastic year. I’m proud of everything Maegan and Denise accomplished this season as well as everything our entire team and program accomplished.
“Florida just played a little bit better than us today. Credit to them; they’re a good team.
“They came out really strong and aggressive, and we started out maybe a little too passive, Starr added. “We had a lot of close games. We competed well today regardless of the score. It feels great we were well represented here for another year.
“We had such a great tournament, Manasse said. “There were a couple of matches that were really close, and we stayed mentally tough like in the 10-point tiebreaker in the semifinal. What we take away from this is we had a such a great tournament and have one more year to represent Cal. We’re excited to move on to next year. We’re going to take a couple days off and enjoy how well we did winning a doubles national championship, winning an indoor team championship, getting to the semifinals of the NCAA team tournament and getting to the finals of doubles.

CHAMPIONSHIP NOTES
Florida won its fifth NCAA doubles title and first since the 2001 season. Florida’s first NCAA doubles crown came in 1991, while also winning titles in 1996, 1997.

It’s the third straight season that a team from the SEC has won the doubles title. The Alabama team of Maya Jansen and Erin Routliffe won the doubles title in both 2014 and 2015.

Women’s Doubles Finals
#3 [3] Brooke Austin-Kourtney Keegan (Florida) def. #4 [4] Maegan Manasse-Denise Starr (California) 6-2, 6-0

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