UCLA
ITA Regional Championships
Bruins in Action at ITA Regionals
October 16, 2018 | Men's Tennis
LOS ANGELES – Pepperdine University and the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center will once again host Southwest section of the ITA Regional Championships, which begin Wednesday. Seven players from the UCLA men's tennis team are in the field, which includes some of the nation's best players from the Pac-12 and other area conferences.
Draws for the ITA Southwest Regional Championships are available HERE.Making their 2018-19 debuts this week will be sophomore Bryce Pereira, who impressed as a freshman with a doubles record of 24-12, and freshman Eric Hahn. Hahn hails from Fullerton, Calif. and recently reached the Round of 16 at the USTA Boys' 18 National Championships in Kalamazoo, Mich. Joining Pereira and Hahn will be sophomores Connor Hance, Connor Rapp and Keegan Smith, as well as freshmen Mathew Tsolakyan and Max Wild.
Smith is back in California following a trip to Tulsa, Okla. for the Saint Francis Health System ITA Men's All-American Championships, where he defeated California's Yuta Kikuchi in straight sets (6-4, 7-5) for his first win. The reigning Pac-12 Freshman of the Year faced a stiffer test in the second round with No. 2-ranked Nuno Borges of Mississippi State—and the No. 28 Smith nearly pulled off the upset. Borges took the first set easily, 6-1, only to have Smith charge back to double him up in the second. The Portuguese senior eventually pulled away in the third, propelling himself toward the tournament's final round.
Also returning the action is the quartet of Hance, Rapp, Tsolakyan and Wild. Each of the four picked up at least one victory at the UCSB Classic in Santa Barbara, Calif., with the newcomer duo of Tsolakyan and Wild teaming up to advance to the doubles B Flight final with an impressive 8-7 (5) win over Cal Poly's Cambell Nakayama-Karapet Vardanyan in the semis. Rapp took fifth in the singles B Flight with three wins, while Hance knocked off Washington's Jack Davis in the singles A Flight, 7-5, 6-2.
Twelve regions are represented across Division I tournaments played between Oct. 11 and Oct. 23, with a trip to the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships in Surprise, Ariz. awaiting the singles and doubles champions of each.
Players Mentioned
