Men's Tennis Signs Heralded Prospect Leustian
November 15, 2019 | Men's Tennis
LOS ANGELES โ Highly-touted tennis recruit Stefan Leustian has signed a National Letter of Intent with UCLA, head coach Billy Martin announced Wednesday.
Leustian, a Blue-Chip prospect as the No. 6 player in his class according to TennisRecruiting.net, is in line to join the Bruins in time for the 2020-21 season.
"We're really excited to have Stefan join our UCLA men's tennis program," said Martin. "I've been following him for over three years now and watch his development.
"Absolutely one of the top American juniors and, I think, a young man that's going to be able to come in certainly help carry the UCLA tennis tradition on."
Hailing from Sacramento, Calif., the 5-10 Leustian is currently taking classes through Connections Academy after three years with Horizon Charter Schools.
Leustian starred internationally in 2016, when he won the prestigious Les Petits As tournament in Tarbes, France as a 14-year old. He also represented the United States as one of its top 14-and-under players at the World Junior Tennis Finals in Prostejov, Czech Republic. Leustian was also becoming a household name back home, as he reached the Boys' 14 singles final round at the USTA National Winter Championships in Tucson, Ariz. and the Boys' 14 doubles final round at the Easter Bowl tournament in Indian Wells, Calif.
A frequent participant in ITF (International Tennis Federation) events, Leustian has made deep runs in Boys' 18 draws at Austin, Corpus Christi, South Carolina and Delray Beach. The right-hander recently took part in the 2019 Boys' 18 National Championships in Kalamazoo, Mich., where he reached the second rounds of the singles and doubles brackets.
"Very similar all-court game to past very successful Bruin men's tennis players Marcos Giron and Mackie McDonald in that he's not the 6-6 guy," Martin added. "He's under six feet tall, very mobile, very good off the ground, very good return of server, but can certainly come into net and mix it up that way.
"I think it's a style of game that we've had a lot of success with here at UCLA and I feel he can continue that tradition."
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โ UCLA Men's Tennis (@uclatennis) November 13, 2019
This Blue-Chip talent will make his way to Westwood in 2020.#GoBruins | #NationalSigningDay pic.twitter.com/9NV5tHsDZm
