TULSA, Okla. – A trio of UCLA men's tennis players begins the 2023-23 season Saturday at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center on the campus of University of Tulsa, where the ITA is set to host its annual All-American Championships.
Making up the contingent of Bruins are senior Jorge Plans Gonzalez, redshirt freshman Emon van Loben Sels and sophomore Azuma Visaya. Van Loben Sels and Visaya get underway during Saturday's pre-qualifying singles action, while Plans Gonzalez joins the draw Monday, Oct. 2 or Tuesday, Oct. 3 for qualifying.
Plans Gonzalez joined the fold in June, following three years at Clemson. Across his time with the Tigers, the Barcelona, Spain native went 50-28 in singles matches. Plans Gonzalez posted a 13-10 singles record in 2022-23, occupying the top two courts in Clemson's lineup during dual-match play. Van Loben Sels will make his debut on the college level after sitting out the 2022-23 campaign. He climbed to No. 9 in his class, according to TennisRecruiting.net, and recently competed at the USTA Boys' 16 & 18 Nationals Championships in Kalamazoo, Mich. and the 122nd Ojai (Calif.) Tennis Tournament. Visaya went 14-8 in singles contests during his debut season at UCLA in 2022-23, matching the team lead with three clinching victories.
Track Tennis and the Cracked Racquets YouTube channel will provide live coverage of the event.
Pre-Qualifying Singles Matchups
van Loben Sels vs. Pablo Perez Ramos (New Jersey Institute of Technology) – 8:45 a.m. PT
Visaya vs. Frank Thompson (Virginia Tech) – 9:45 a.m. PT
Plans Gonzalez vs. TBD
Gearing up for All-Americans here in Tulsa????
— ITA (@ITA_Tennis) September 29, 2023
?? ITA Men's All-American Championships
?? Sept. 30 - Oct. 8
?? https://t.co/estDE0OmjK (Draws/Times)#WeAreCollegeTennis | #ITAAllAmericans pic.twitter.com/xuWvAuGBM9