UCLA
Texas
Men's Tennis Outlasted by No. 4 Texas at Indoors
February 14, 2020 | Men's Tennis
MADISON, Wis. โ The No. 16 UCLA men's tennis team pushed the defending NCAA champions to their limit Friday, but ultimately fell to No. 4 Texas by a 4-2 score in the first round of ITA National Team Indoor Championships play at Nielsen Tennis Stadium
The Bruins (4-3), seeded 14th in the tournament, will next take on seventh-ranked and sixth-seeded Texas A&M in a consolation match Saturday at 7 a.m., PT. The Aggies dropped a 4-3 decision versus Michigan Friday.
The Longhorns (6-1) won four singles matches after UCLA picked up wins on the top two doubles courts to start the morning. Three matches went to third sets, with Texas winning two and the final one going unfinished. Freshman Drew Baird beat his first ranked opponent for the Bruins' lone singles victory.
The UCLA pair of sophomore Govind Nanda and junior Keegan Smith continued to shine in doubles play, as it earned two breaks of serve en route to a 6-2 defeat of 11th-ranked Christian Sigsgaard and Siem Woldeab on the top court. The win marked the duo's third in a row and first against a ranked opponent.
The Longhorns pulled even on Court 3, where Cleeve Harper and Yuya Ito notched a 6-2 win over junior Bryce Pereira and sophomore Patrick Zahraj. The Bruins immediately broke serve, but Harper/Ito went on to post three of its own.
Returning for the first time, Baird and redshirt junior Connor Rapp broke Chih Chi Huang and Eliot Spizzirri en route to a 3-0 lead. That proved to be all they needed, as Baird/Rapp used it for a 6-3 win and the day's first point.
UCLA collected two first sets in singles play, ensuring it would need at least one third set in order to be victorious.
Baird followed his strong effort in doubles play with the best win of his collegiate career. Facing off against 37th-ranked Woldeab on Court 3, The Raleigh, N.C. native triumphed by a 6-2, 6-3 score that kept momentum moving in UCLA's favor.
Texas followed with a pair of straight-set wins of its own, as Harper beat sophomore Eric Hahn by a 6-2, 6-3 score on Court 6 and Spizzirri knocked off senior Ben Goldberg on Court 4, 6-4, 6-3.
The day's premier matchup on Court 1 featured No. 6 Smith and No. 2 Ito. Ito, who won the ITA Fall National Championships and ITA All-American singles titles in the fall, took the first set before Smith answered in a tit-for-tat second. The Longhorn ultimately proved too strong, prevailing by a 6-4, 6-7(1), 6-1 score that made the overall tally 3-2 in favor of Texas.
Zahraj won the first set on Court 5 versus Huang, but his match was left unfinished after No. 12 Sigsgaard took down No. 10 Nanda in another matchup of two of the nation's top players. Like Smith, Nanda won a second-set tiebreaker before being outlasted in the third. Sigsgaard's 6-4, 6-7(7), 6-2 victory sent Texas into the quarterfinals.
Tennis Match Results
UCLA vs Texas
2/14/2020 at Madison, WI
(Nielsen Tennis Stadium)
#4 Texas 4, #16 UCLA 2
Singles competition
1. #2 Yuya Ito (TEX) def. #6 Keegan Smith (UCLA) 6-4, 6-7 (1-7), 6-1
2. #12 Christian Sigsgaard (TEX) def. #10 Govind Nanda (UCLA) 6-4, 6-7 (7-9), 6-2
3. Drew Baird (UCLA) def. #37 Siem Woldeab (TEX) 6-2, 6-3
4. Eliot Spizzirri (TEX) def. Ben Goldberg (UCLA) 6-4, 6-3
5. Chih Chi Huang (TEX) vs. Patrick Zahraj (UCLA) 3-6, 7-6 (10-8), 3-4, unfinished
6. Cleeve Harper (TEX) def. Eric Hahn (UCLA) 6-2, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. Govind Nanda/Keegan Smith (UCLA) def. #11 Christian Sigsgaard/Siem Woldeab (TEX) 6-2
2. Drew Baird/Connor Rapp (UCLA) def. Chih Chi Huang/Eliot Spizzirri (TEX) 6-3
3. Cleeve Harper/Yuya Ito (TEX) def. Bryce Pereira/Patrick Zahraj (UCLA) 6-2
Match Notes:
UCLA 4-3; National ranking #16
Texas 6-1; National ranking #4
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (3,6,4,1,2)
ITA National Team Indoor Championships - First Round
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
1,3,2
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
3,6,4,1,2
Players Mentioned
