UCLA
Grand Canyon
Men's Tennis Tops Grand Canyon 4-2
February 26, 2019 | Men's Tennis
LOS ANGELES โ The No. 23 UCLA men's tennis team received an early scare from visiting Grand Canyon Tuesday afternoon, but prevailed 4-2 at Los Angeles Tennis Center.
Five freshmen were in action for the Bruins (4-3), who received three singles wins from the group. Mathew Tsolakyan clinched the victory in three sets on Court 4. Eric Hahn picked up the first dual-match singles win of his career, while Govind Nanda and Connor Rapp rounded out the quartet of Bruin winners. GCU (6-3) claimed the doubles point to get on the board first.
Valentin Lang and Jakub Novak got momentum on the side of the Lopes early, cruising past Rapp and Ben Goldberg 6-1.
Court 3 featured the debut of UCLA's Max Wild, who teamed with Nanda against Freddie Grant and Lucas Grego. Grant and Grego secured an early break, but Nanda and Wild settled in with the final three games to win 6-3.
The point would be decided on the top court, where Bryce Pereira and Patrick Zahraj of UCLA broke Lorenzo Fucile and Mathieu Rajaonah early to take a 2-0 lead. The Lopes countered with six of the next eight games, however, taking the match and the day's first point.
Four first sets went to the Bruins, including two by way of tiebreaker.
No. 53 Nanda pulled UCLA even with a three-set win in his top-court debut. He split sets with Fucile before rolling in the third. His 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 victory improved his record to 10-3, 7-2 in dual matches.
The tie was short lived, as Rajaonah defeated Zahraj 6-2, 7-5 minutes later on the next court over. In a back-and-forth second set, Rajaonah turned the tide back in GCU's favor.
The rest of the decisions would come from the back courts, where Connor Rapp bounced back from a 2-6 first set against Novak to return the favor in the second. Rapp went on to double up Novak in the third set for the second dual-match singles win of his career. That tied the score at two.
Hahn got off to a rocky start on Court 5 against Grant, but rebounded from his 2-5 deficit to force a tiebreaker. There, Hahn prevailed 7-4 to set the tone. With renewed energy, the Fullerton, Calif. native secured the second set 6-4 and the first dual-match singles win of his career.
With a 3-2 score on the side of UCLA, Tsolakyan took matters into his own hands to decide it. Like Hahn, Tsolakyan trailed early but fought back to force a tiebreaker. And again like Hahn, he triumphed 7-4. Grego answered with a 6-3 second set to force a third, which Tsolakyan grabbed by a 6-4 score for his first clinching win.
The Bruins next travel south to La Jolla to participate in the 130th Annual Pacific Coast Doubles Championship at the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club. Action will begin Friday and conclude Sunday.
Tennis Match Results
Grand Canyon vs UCLA
2/26/2019 at Los Angeles, CA
(Los Angeles Tennis Center)
#23 UCLA 4, Grand Canyon 2
Singles competition
1. #53 Govind Nanda (UCLA) def. Lorenzo Fucile (GCU) 6-3, 3-6, 6-2
2. Mathieu Rajaonah (GCU) def. Patrick Zahraj (UCLA) 6- 2, 7-5
3. Ben Goldberg (UCLA) vs. Valentin Lang (GCU) 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-4), unfinished
4. Mathew Tsolakyan (UCLA) def. Lucas Grego (GCU) 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 6-4
5. Eric Hahn (UCLA) def. Freddie Grant (GCU) 7-6 (7-4), 6-4
6. Connor Rapp (UCLA) def. Jakub Novak (GCU) 2-6, 6-2, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. Lorenzo Fucile/Mathieu Rajaonah (GCU) def. Bryce Pereira/Patrick Zahraj (UCLA) 6-4
2. Valentin Lang/Jakub Novak (GCU) def. Ben Goldberg/Connor Rapp (UCLA) 6-1
3. Govind Nanda/Max Wild (UCLA) def. Freddie Grant/Lucas Grego (GCU) 6-3
Match Notes:
Grand Canyon 6-3
UCLA 5-4; National ranking #23
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (1,2,6,5,4)
T-2:40
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
2,3,1
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
1,2,6,5,4
Players Mentioned
