Men’s Tennis Visits USC, Hosts Utah Closes Regular Season

The UCLA men’s tennis team (12-7, 3-3 Pac-12) is on a three-game winning streak into its last two games of the regular season, starting Wednesday against cross-town rivals and 11th-ranked USC (14-7, 4-2 ). The first service from the David X. Marks Tennis Stadium is scheduled for 5pm PT. The Bruins then closed out the campaign at home, where they would meet the No. Utah 19 (20-3, 5-1) Saturday for a 1 p.m. start.

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USC Live Streaming/Score: https://usctrojans.com/sports/2020/2/19/usc-trojans-m-tennis-live-scoreboard-video-david-marks-stadium

Fans who can’t attend UCLA men’s tennis games at home in person can still follow in person. Live streaming and live scoring will be available for all matches played at the Los Angeles Tennis Center HERE.

LAST OUT TIME

UCLA kicked off the final week of its regular season on Monday with a 4-0 win against UC San Diego at the Los Angeles Tennis Center. The closing win represented the Bruins’ third in four days. UCLA did not drop a set in the afternoon, with James Revelli ultimately determines the outcome. Timothy Li And Aadarsh ​​​​​​Tripathi also won in singles. The Bruins only surrendered a total of two games to the Tritons in doubles. UCLA previously edged Oregon (April 15) and Washington (April 14) by identical scores 4-0.

UCLA VS. USC, UTAH

UCLA holds an 87-58 advantage in its all-time series with USC. The Bruins were defeated by their cross-town rivals in a 4–0 non-conference draw on March 1 at the Los Angeles Tennis Center. UCLA looks at freshmen Gianluca Ballotta And Aadarsh ​​​​​​Tripathi each earned a set, but both matches were left unfinished. The Trojans got the lone wins from Bradley Frye, Lodewijk Weststrate and the decider Peter Makk. UCLA 18-1 against Utah. The program last met on April 21, 2022 in the quarter-finals of the 2022 Pac-12 Championship. A comeback attempt from Bryce Pereira sealing the fifth-seeded Bruins 4-2 victory against fourth-seeded Utes at Libbey Park in Ojai, California. Trailing 2-5 in the third set on Court 4, Pereira fought back to force a tiebreak, which he eventually captured with gripping style. UCLA also received a singles win from Stefan Leustian And James Revelli after taking double points. After trailing by 3-0, Utah cut its deficit to one with wins by Geronimo Espin Busleiman and Bruno Krenn.

LOOK AT TROJANS, UTES

Holding a 14-7 record overall and 4-2 in Pac-12 play, USC is currently ranked No. 11 by ITA. Individually, Stefan Dostanic at No. 31 leads a group of four Trojans on the singles list. Joining him are No. 44 Peter Makk, No. 102 Wojtek Marek and No. 120 Bradley Frye. Doubles pair Dostanic and Frye are No. 10. Utah is ranked No. 19, a sporting record of 20-3 overall and 5-1 in conference play. The trio of Geronimo Espin Busleiman (No. 52), Franco Capalbo (81) and Francisco Bastias (97) can be found in the singles rankings. The double tandem of Berk Bugarikj/Patrick Trhac is No.41.

SENIOR DAY

senior Patrick Plays will be honored after a doubles match on Saturday, as he prepares to take the courts of the Los Angeles Tennis Center one last time. Zahraj, who has spent most of the 2023 doubles season in the top singles court, has a 40-27 career record in singles and 52-41 overall in doubles. He has achieved a career best position of No. 56 in the ITA Single Rankings, and rising together Drew Baird to No. 52 on the double list. Zahraj has posted seven game-defining points in his career, including a 7-6(4), 5-7, 7-6(7) decision over USC’s Riley Smith in 2019. Off the field, Zahraj is a two – time ITA Scholar-Athlete, two-time Pac-12 Spring Academic Honor Roll member and eight-time named UCLA Athletic Director’s Honor Roll.

IN RATING

UCLA is No. 33 in the latest ITA Team Ranking, released Tuesday. All rankings have been computerized since February 21. The top 25 teams were previously determined by a coach’s poll. The ITA National Doubles Rankings, also announced Tuesday, include a debut by Timothy Li And James Revelli. Being at No. 60, the combination of Li and Revelli has beaten No. 30 Joshua Charlton and Quinn Vandecasteele of Oregon (April 15, 7-5) and No. 73 Jay Friend and Jonas Ziverts of Arizona (31 March 7-5) . Alexander Hoogmartens sits at No. 84 in the singles ranking. 15 February 8. Each of Hoogmartens’ last five wins have come against opponents ranked in the top 50 of the ITA National Singles Rankings. He is 7-3 overall against nationally ranked foes during the 2022-23 season. Hoogmartens’ last four singles wins have also come in straight sets, starting when he defeated 43rd-ranked Trey Hilderbrand of Texas A&M 6-3, 6-2 (January 13) at the Sherwood Collegiate Cup in Thousand Oaks, California. a two-game campaign, Hoogmartens have beaten the No. 41 Andre Ilagan of Hawai’i (January 20, 6-4, 6-1), No. 31 Daniel De Jonge of Pepperdine (21 January 6-1, 6-3), No. 39 Pablo Alemany of Memphis (January 28, 6-1, 6-4) and No. 47 Sema Pankin of Portland (Feb. 4, 6-4, 6-3).

WATCH THE CLICK
Gianluca Ballotta (Yale, Pennsylvania and Portland) and Azuma Visaya (at Arizona State, Pepperdine and Hawai’i) have three wins each this season to lead the Bruins. James Revelli (UC San Diego, vs. Memphis) and Patrick Plays (Oregon, UC Irvine) have two each. Timothy Li (Washington) and Aadarsh ​​​​​​Tripathi (Oklahoma State) each scores a fourth point once a year.

HOOGMARTENS HONORED BY PAC-12
Alexander Hoogmartens was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week for the week of January 16-22, the conference announced January 24. Hoogmartens held on to his place in the top singles court emphatically as the Bruins opened their doubles portion of the season with the hosts. wins against Hawaii and No. 19 Pepperdines. The sophomore beat No. 41 Andre Ilagan of the Rainbow Warriors (6-4, 6-1) and No. Waves’ 31 Daniel De Jonge (6-1, 6-3), improved his 2022-23 win total versus players ranked in the ITA’s top 50 to five since the fall. Hoogmartens contributed to each of UCLA’s first two points scored in the 4-3 win over Pepperdine, also teaming up with Timothy Li to outlast Maxi Homberg and Eero Vasa in the tiebreaker, 10-8. Court 2’s decision came after two other double results were split. The Pac-12 Player of the Week award represents the second Hoogmartens career and the 48th in UCLA men’s tennis program history.

RECAP FALL

The Bruins take part in five tournaments including two national events before the new year. Alexander Hoogmartens amassing a team-high seven singles wins, including two against the national rankings. She reached the singles final of the ITA Southwest Regional Championships, defeating No. 46 Gustaf Strom and No. 45 Zeitvogel Team from Pepperdine along the way. Jeffrey Fradkin And Patrick Plays grabbed five double wins each to lead the squad. Fradkin and Aadarsh ​​​​​​Tripathi collaborated on a track championship at the UCSB Classic. Hoogmartens and Zahraj teamed up to qualify for the main draw of the ITA All-American Championships.

REVIEW 2021-22

The 2021-22 Bruins went 13-12, but had their season terminated prior to the NCAA team tournament. UCLA managed to get past top seed Utah in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 Championships, but came off the wrong end with a 4-3 decision in its last four battle with Washington. The Bruins won six of their last eight games. individually, Alexander Hoogmartens becoming the first UCLA freshman to make the All-Conference Pac-12 First Team since Daniel Kosakowski in 2011. Patrick Plays get Honorable Mention recognition. Hoogmartens qualified for the NCAA Championship singles tournament. He produced a team-high 14 doubles wins while playing with three different partners. Stefan Leustian leads all Bruins with 19 singles wins.

WHO’S NEW?

The UCLA roster features freshmen Gianluca Ballotta, Aadarsh ​​​​​​Tripathi, Emon van Loben Sels And Azuma Visaya. Ballotta (Lima, Peru) holds a career-high ranking of ITF junior No. 42 and through to the singles and doubles draw at the 2022 US Open Junior Championships. Tripathi (Pleasanton, California), a Blue Chip recruit according to TennisRecruiting.net, won his 16th men’s doubles championship with van Loben Sels at the 2019 USTA National Level 3: Coyote Cup in Scottsdale, Ariz. Van Loben Sels, also a Blue Chip Talent, teamed with Ethan Schiffman to claim his 16th Men’s doubles title at the 2021 Easter Bowl in San Diego. Visaya, another Blue Chip prospect and the top-ranked player in Hawaii, swept the singles and doubles championships at a number of USTA events in his home state.

BRUINS ON TOUR

The former UCLA standout continues to be a household name in the professional ranks, with Maxime Cressy, Marcos Giron, Mackenzie McDonald and Jean-Julien Rojer providing notable results at Grand Slams and on the ATP Tour. Cressy captured his first ATP Tour championship when he defeated Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan in the 2022 Open Hall of Fame in Newport, RI Giron to finish runner-up in singles at the 2022 San Diego Open. McDonald opened 2023 by defeating top seed and defending champion Rafael Nadal in three sets at the Australian Open. Rojer collected his fourth Grand Slam title at Roland-Garros in 2022, teaming up with Marcelo Arevalo to beat Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek in the final. Rojer also won the 2023 Delray Beach Open double crown with Arevalo in February. Cressy (39, career high 31 in 2022), McDonald (54, career high 48 in 2022) and Giron (68, career high 49 in 2022) currently rank among the ATP’s top 70 singles players. Roger is tied for No. 8 on the double list.

ANOTHER MARTIN MILESTONE

Head coach Billy Martin is in his 30th year of leading the UCLA men’s tennis program and this season marks his 40th year since joining the staff of friend, mentor, and fellow UCLA Athletics Hall of Famer Glenn Bassett. Martin, who passed Bassett to become the all-time program leader in head coaching wins during the 2019 season, is the longest-tenuring active coach at UCLA. He holds a 642-154 (. 807) record at the helm. He guided the 2005 Bruins to their 16th NCAA team title program and only five Martin-led squads to finish outside the top five in the season-ending NCAA Championship. Benjamin Kohlloeffel (2006), Marcos Giron (2014) and Mackenzie McDonald (2016) have earned NCAA singles titles at the hands of Martin, while UCLA has been the landing spot for multiple champions in recent times. As well as 1996 winners Justin Gimelstob and Srdjan Muskatirovic, three of the six most recent title holders (McDonald/Martin Redlicki in 2016, Redlicki/Evan Zhu in 2018 and Maxime Cressy/Keegan Smith in 2019 have called Westwood home.