Jackson and Frye secure doubles tennis victory

USC freshman Ryder Jackson dominated his competition at the 63rd Annual Southern California Intercollegiate Championships Thursday through Sunday. Jackson secured the doubles title and was a finalist in the main singles draw. 

Jackson and his partner sophomore Bradley Frye — the No. 1-seeded pair in the tournament — made an impressive run in the main doubles draw, capturing the championship 8-5 against the No. 2 Arizona State duo of junior William Kirkman and senior Makey Rakotomalala. The title capped off a commanding tournament for the duo, which did not allow its opponents to win more than five games in any match.

Jackson’s success carried over to the singles draw as the No. 4 seed reached the finals in a matchup against Arizona junior Filip Malbasic. Jackson dealt with cramps early on in his first-round match against BYU freshman Jack Barnett, yet he willed his way through the pain en route to a 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 victory. Jackson would later upset the top-seeded Alex Holmgren of San Diego in the semifinals 6-3, 6-7, 6-4. 

Jackson ultimately fell to Malbasic in an enduring three-set match 4-6, 6-4, 6-0. Although he came up short of a singles title, Jackson’s performance was especially promising given that it is only his first year with the program.

“He fought really hard, and I was really just impressed with his resiliency and determination to keep pushing on through,” head coach Brett Masi said. “He beat some darn good players along the way. [It] just shows that he is another valuable asset that we have on our team this year.”

While he’s only a freshman, Jackson could be a major contributor for the team as the season progresses toward conference play.

“He’s beaten some really good players this fall, and this shows … that he can play with the best,” Masi said. “He just has to iron some things with his body, but he’s going to be right there with the rest of the guys serving us ahead.”

Elsewhere, multiple Trojans competed this past weekend in the Oracle ITA Fall National Championships in Newport Beach, Calif. No. 8 junior Daniel Cukierman came into the tournament intending to earn a championship win after losing in the singles final the previous year. 

The No. 4-seeded Cukierman fell in the quarterfinals to senior Valentin Vacherot of Texas A&M in a tight three-set match 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

Although Cukierman came up short, this marks his only loss of the entire fall season, and he could still fall within the top 10 singles players in the country this spring.

Masi said his players’ early success will help them build momentum and confidence heading into the latter half of the season.

“While it is great to have a lot of success this fall, at the end of the day these guys know, and I know that it means nothing if we can’t finish come the spring season,” he said.

The Trojans’ first team match will be Saturday, Jan. 25, when they host UNC Wilmington at Marks Stadium.