UCLA
ITA Regional Championships
Bruins Wrap at ITA Regionals
October 23, 2018 | Men's Tennis
MALIBU, Calif. – Six members of the UCLA men's tennis team competed at the ITA Southwest Regional Championships on the campus of Pepperdine University, as the Bruins competed against the area's best players.
Four of five participating Bruins won their opening matches of the singles draw. In his first action as a Bruin, freshman Eric Hahn reached the Round of 16. The doubles team of Bryce Pereira and Keegan Smith, meanwhile, was among the final eight in the doubles competition.
With first-round byes out of the way, No. 28 Smith, Hahn and Connor Hance each got things started with a decisive victory. Smith made quick work of Mateusz Smolicki of UC Irvine, 6-2, 6-0, Hahn debuted with a win versus UC Santa Barbara's Anders Holm (6-3, 6-4) and Hance added a straight-set decision of his own over a Gaucho (6-2, 6-4 versus Alex Soto). Connor Rapp dropped his Round-of-64 match to No. 30 August Holmgren of San Diego, 6-2, 6-4, but not before picking up a victory one round earlier.
Smith's run ended one round later in a loss to USC's Tanner Smith, 6-1, 6-3, but Hahn continued his strong play with a 6-4, 6-3 win against UCI's Luis Lopez. Hance fell to Grand Canyon's Lorenzo Fucile, 7-5, 7-5, turning the focus to his freshman teammate's first encounter with a Pac-12 opponent. No. 31 Daniel Cukierman of USC was a force to be reckoned with in the Round of 16, as he eventually topped Hahn by a 6-2, 6-2 score.
Sophomores Pereira and Smith teamed up for the first time since last fall and the pair did not show any rust. The duo defeated Dominic Bechard-Josh Ortlip of Cal Poly (8-2) and Lorenzo Fucile-Mathieu Rajaonah of GCU (8-4) to reach the quarterfinals. There, Pereira-Smith pushed USC's Brandon Holt-Riley Smith to the limit before coming up short. The Trojan tandem, ranked No. 2 in the nation, eked out an 8-6 win.
In other doubles action, Eric Hahn and Connor Hance moved past Freddie Grant and Nicolau Macedo of GCU with ease (8-0), but fell to No. 10 Nico Borter-Gui Osorio by an 8-1 score in the Round of 16.
ITA Regional Championships - Southwest
Oct 17-22, 2018 at Malibu, CA (Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center)
| Singles competition | |
| Main Draw | |
| 128 | Ethan Prost (Loyola Marymount) def. Max Wild (UCLA) 6-3, 6-2 |
| 128 | Connor Rapp (UCLA) def. Jakub Novak (Grand Canyon), by default |
| 64 | #28 Keegan Smith (UCLA) def. Mateusz Smolicki (UC Irvine) 6-2, 6-0 |
| 64 | Eric Hahn (UCLA) def. Anders Holm (UC Santa Barbara) 6-3, 6-4 |
| 64 | Connor Hance (UCLA) def. Alex Soto (UC Santa Barbara) 6-2, 6-4 |
| 64 | #30 August Holmgren (San Diego) def. Connor Rapp (UCLA) 6-2, 6-4 |
| 32 | Tanner Smith (USC) def. #28 Keegan Smith (UCLA) 6-1, 6-3 |
| 32 | Eric Hahn (UCLA) def. Luis Lopez (UC Irvine) 6-4, 6-3 |
| 32 | Lorenzo Fucile (Grand Canyon) def. Connor Hance (UCLA) 7-5, 7-5 |
| 16 | #31 Daniel Cukierman (USC) def. Eric Hahn (UCLA) 6-2, 6-2 |
| Doubles competition | |
| Main Draw | |
| 64 | Ignacio Martinez/Arnaud Restifo (San Diego State) def. Connor Rapp/Max Wild (UCLA) 8-5 |
| 32 | Bryce Pereira/Keegan Smith (UCLA) def. Dominic Bechard/Josh Ortlip (Cal Poly) 8-2 |
| 32 | Eric Hahn/Connor Hance (UCLA) def. Freddie Grant/Nicolau Macedo (Grand Canyon) 8-0 |
| 16 | Bryce Pereira/Keegan Smith (UCLA) def. Lorenzo Fucile/Mathieu Rajaonah (Grand Canyon) 8-4 |
| 16 | #10 Nico Borter/Gui Osorio (San Diego) def. Eric Hahn/Connor Hance (UCLA) 8-1 |
| QF | #2 Brandon Holt/Riley Smith (USC) def. Bryce Pereira/Keegan Smith (UCLA) 8-6 |
Players Mentioned
