No. 4 Bruins Ink Three SoCal Standouts
April 15, 2016 | Men's Tennis
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The fourth-ranked UCLA men's tennis team adds three to its roster for the 2016-17 season. Head coach Billy Martin announced Friday that Evan Zhu has signed a letter of intent to study at UCLA and play tennis for the Bruins, while Connor Rapp and Ben Goldberg have signed statements of intent to register.
Ranked No. 53 in the nation by TennisRecruiting.net (March 28), Evan Zhu recently qualified for the singles and doubles main draws of the Bakersfield Tennis Open. In singles, Zhu fell in the round of 32 to Michael Mmoh. After winning their doubles round of 16 match in straights, Zhu and his partner fell to former Bruins Nick Meister and Adrien Puget in the quarterfinals. Meister and Puget went on to win the doubles crown. Zhu was also a doubles finalist at the Plantation 10k this year.
Last year, Zhu was an ITF Grade 3 doubles finalist, an ITF Grade 3 doubles champion, and an ITF Grade 4 doubles finalist. In 2014, Zhu was ranked No. 1 in Boys 16s in the country. He helped Team USA secure a first place finish at the under 16 Junior Challenge Worldwide Finals held at Wimbledon, posting singles wins against South Africa, Japan, and the United Kingdom. Zhu was also the Easter Bowl 16s doubles champion and ITF Grade 4 doubles champion. The year prior, Zhu was a Boys 18s Mid-Atlantic sectional champion. As the No. 1 ranked player in Boys 14s in 2012, Zhu won the 14s National Clay Court Championship, was a finalist at 14s Eddie Herr, and a 16s Mid-Atlantic sectional champion.
“We're really excited to have Evan join our team this coming year,” said Martin of signing Zhu. “He's had some great results recently in some of the local tournaments, and he's playing a lot of the Futures tournaments nationwide. I think he's going to be a big part of our team next year. I'm expecting to have him step in and fill some big shoes with us losing Karue Sell and Ryoto Tachi.”
Welcome to Westwood, Evan! https://t.co/5FNaHs6ZGJ #UCLASigningDay #ImABruin #GoBruins #Pac12Ten pic.twitter.com/jHZIDeLgiq
— UCLA Men's Tennis (@uclatennis) April 15, 2016
Joining his older brother Austin Rapp on the Bruin roster, Connor Rapp is a 5-star recruit on TennisRecruiting.net and was ranked as high as No. 50 in his class. As a freshman and sophomore at Palm Desert High School, Rapp was a CIF team finalist. As a junior, he was a singles semifinalist in CIF-SS Individuals. In 2015, Rapp won 18s singles at the USTA Regional national tournament in Arizona and was a 16s singles finalist at the prestigious Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament.
“I'm really happy to have Connor joining our team,” said Martin of adding another Rapp to the roster. “His older brother, Austin, joined our team last year and is doing a great job for us this year as a sophomore. We've had a good chance to watch Connor the past few years, and he's really improving. I think he will be a good addition to our team and will help the Bruins out in the years to come. He comes from a great tennis family, so we're really happy to have him join the Bruins.”
Who's ready for some #brotherlylove next season? Bruins sign Connor Rapp! https://t.co/5FNaHs6ZGJ #UCLASigningDay pic.twitter.com/clUYhrXRHg
— UCLA Men's Tennis (@uclatennis) April 15, 2016
A local product of Palisades High School, Ben Goldberg is a 5-star recruit on Tennisrecruiting.net and was the 2015 CIF/LA City Singles Champion. A three-time first-team all-city selection for CIF/LA City Section, Goldberg is currently ranked eighth in Boys 18s in Southern California.
Goldberg recently helped Palisades capture the 2016 California Tennis Classic by winning the deciding match. Three weeks later, he helped lead Palisades to the finals of the National High School All-American Championships. Last year, Goldberg was the USTA October Regional Singles Champion at the Las Vegas Mike Agassi No Quit Championships.
“Ben's situation is a very unique one,” said Martin. “We've known him for years as a young camper and as the son of one of our NCAA compliance personnel here at UCLA. It's fun to see a young man grow up and also become a great tennis player. He's had great success in southern California. The last couple of years we've seen some great improvement, so I think he's going to be a great addition to the team.”
Welcome to the Bruin family, Ben!! https://t.co/5FNaHs6ZGJ #UCLASigningDay #Pac12Ten #GoBruins #ImABruin pic.twitter.com/09A8yFY5m6
— UCLA Men's Tennis (@uclatennis) April 15, 2016
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