University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Nanda Named ITA SW Region Player to Watch
May 18, 2020 | Men's Tennis
TEMPE, Ariz. – Sophomore Govind Nanda of the UCLA men's tennis team was selected ITA Southwest Region Player to Watch to conclude the 2019-20 season, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association announced Monday.
The Player to Watch award honors a returning a student-athlete who is expected to have an outstanding collegiate season next year.
National awards will be announced Monday, May 25 during a special virtual ceremony on the ITA Facebook, Twitter and YouTube accounts.
In singles play, Nanda posted a 13-4 record and reached a career-high No. 10 in the Oracle/ITA rankings in 2019-20. He played exclusively on Court 2 in dual matches. Nanda went 7-3 versus nationally-ranked singles opponents, including consecutive wins against No. 29 Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi of UCF (Jan. 26 – 6-3, 3-6, 6-2), No. 49 Jack Molloy of California (Jan. 31 – 6-3, 6-4), No. 18 Alexandre Rotsaert of Stanford (Feb. 1 – 6-1, 7-5) and No. 124 Kennosuke Nouchi of Western Michigan (Feb. 11 – 6-1, 6-2). He also defeated No. 9 Mor Bulis of USC, 6-0, 6-3, to reach the singles semifinal round at the Sherwood Collegiate Cup during the tournament portion of the schedule.
Nanda teamed with junior Keegan Smith on the top doubles court, where the pair went 9-3 in dual matches. The tandem went 12-4 overall. Nanda/Smith clinched a team-high five doubles points, including a 6-4 result over No. 12 Tada Babelis/Yannai Barkai of NC State at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship tournament. The win helped propel the UCLA pair to a season-high—and career-high doubles showing for Nanda—No. 24 in the Oracle/ITA rankings.
The Redlands, Calif. native qualified for the NCAA singles tournament and was selected to the All-Pac-12 Second Team in 2019. He has a career singles record of 33-11 and a doubles mark of 24-16 in his two seasons.
The award marks back-to-back occurrences for the UCLA men's tennis program, as Smith earned the same honor in 2019.
Players Mentioned
