University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Women's Tennis Visits Crosstown Rival USC Monday
February 24, 2023 | Women's Tennis
The UCLA women's tennis team (3-2) opens the next chapter of its crosstown rivalry with USC (6-2) Monday, when it visits David X. Marks Tennis Stadium for a non-conference tilt at 10 a.m. PT. Previously scheduled for Friday, the contest was postponed due to rain in the forecast. The programs split two 2022 meetings.
FOLLOW LIVE
Fans unable to attend the match at USC's David X. Marks Tennis Stadium can still follow live. Live streaming and up-to-the-minute results will be available HERE.
LAST TIME OUT
Playing at Los Angeles Tennis Center for the first time since its dual-match opener, UCLA rolled to a 7-0 victory against CSUN. Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer turned in the first clinching win of her career, while Ava Catanzarite, Kimmi Hance, Vanessa Ong, Sasha Vagramov and Elise Wagle each prevailed twice for the Bruins. The Matadors sent one match to a third set, but Vagramov triumphed in a 10-point tiebreaker.
UCLA VS. USC
UCLA women's tennis is 58-52 in the history of its rivalry with USC. In the most recent meeting (April 15, 2022), the No. 15 Bruins mounted a furious comeback against the No. 19 Trojans, but were ultimately outlasted by a 4-3 score at David X. Marks Tennis Stadium. The loss marked the first in conference play for UCLA since April 12, 2019 at Washington State. USC raced out to a 3-0 lead, only to have the Bruins bounce back to pull even. Salma Ewing clinched the victory on the top court. Elysia Bolton, Kimmi Hance and Vanessa Ong were each triumphant on the singles courts for UCLA. Trailing by a 2-6, 1-5 margin, Bolton recovered to win in three sets. Each of the three doubles matches was closely contested, with a tiebreaker needed on two courts.
IN THE RANKINGS
The latest ITA National Singles and Doubles Rankings came out Tuesday and feature four Bruins. Leading the way on the singles list is Fangran Tian, at a career-high No. 57. Ava Catanzarite is listed at No. 64, while Kimmi Hance checked in at No. 84. The tandem of Hance and Elise Wagle rose to No. 6 for doubles โ a career high for both โ thanks in part to its ITA Southwest Regional Championships title run. The pair beat current No. 1 Savannah Broadus/Janice Tjen of Pepperdine in the final. UCLA was slotted at No. 59 in the first ITA computerized team rankings, also released Tuesday. The initial five versions of the team rankings utilized a coaches poll.
AVA CAN-TANZARITE
Sophomore Ava Catanzarite, who turned in a majority of her 2022 singles results on Court 6, is unbeaten in three Court 3 decisions and one Court 2 result this year. The Pittsburgh native is 11-5 overall going back to fall tournament play. Catanzarite, herself slotted as high as No. 64 this season, is 5-2 versus nationally-ranked singles opponents during the 2022-23 campaign. She knocked off No. 80 Anna Supapitch Kuearum of Iowa State (Jan. 28 โ 6-4, 6-3) and No. 106 Kamila Umarova of FIU (Jan. 29 โ 6-3, 6-1) at the Coral Gables, Fla. host site of ITA Kickoff Weekend.
CLINCH WATCH
Ava Catanzarite (Loyola Marymount), Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer (CSUN) and Fangran Tian (vs. Rice) have each clinched one win this season.
FALL RECAP
Bruins made appearances at six events, including two national ones, during the fall. There were two championship performances, as Kimmi Hance and Elise Wagle teamed to win the ITA Southwest Regional Championships doubles title in San Diego, while the combination of Vanessa Ong and Sasha Vagramov took the Dennis Rizza Classic top prize in Rolling Hills Estates, Calif. Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer, who was the top singles performer at the Women of Troy Invitational, collected a team-high 11 singles wins. Hance, Ava Catanzarite and Fangran Tian each beat three nationally-ranked opponents. Hance also made the singles final round at the ITA Southwest Regionals.
2021-22 IN REVIEW
The 2021-22 UCLA women's tennis team went 13-7, finishing second in the Pac-12 with a 7-1 record. The Bruins advanced past Arkansas in the NCAA Championships first round, but were outlasted by host Oklahoma State in a 4-2 second-round decision. Elysia Bolton and Abbey Forbes qualified for the NCAA singles draw, while the duo of Bolton and Elise Wagle made the doubles draw. Bolton advanced to the singles second round. Forbes (First Team), Bolton (Second Team) and Kimmi Hance (Honorable Mention) received All-Conference honors from the Pac-12. Forbes was also tabbed the ITA Southwest Region's recipient of the Arthur Ashe Leadership & Sportsmanship award.
WHO'S NEW?
Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer and Fangran Tian make up UCLA's freshman class. Lutkemeyer (Irvine, Calif.), a Blue Chip recruit according to TennisRecruiting.net, was the No. 1 player in her class during 2020 and 2021. She took the singles championship at the 2021 PTT Newport Beach, Calif. Women's $25K Hard 2 event. On the junior level, Lutkemeyer collected the Girls' 16 singles crown at the 2018 USTA International Spring Championships in Carson, Calif. Tian (Beijing, China) won the Girls' singles title at the 2019 Australian Open Asia-Pacific Wildcard Play-Off event, earning wild-card entry into the 2020 Australian Open Junior Championships. She also earned a spot in the 2019 Roland-Garros Junior Championships singles draw.
MARSHALL JOINS COACHING STAFF
An acclaimed performance coach for many of the world's top professional tennis players, volunteer assistant coach Rodney Marshall is new to head coach Stella Sampras Webster's staff in 2022-23. Marshall joined the Bruins after spending the past five years in Orlando, Fla., where he worked with standout Americans Madison Keys, Caty McNally and Alison Riske-Armitraj. He has overseen strength and conditioning, nutrition and injury prevention for Keys, who finished 2022 with a WTA singles ranking of No. 11. From 2009-2018, Marshall served as lead national strength and conditioning coach for USTA Player Development, spearheading strength and conditioning efforts for top American players out of the National Training Centers in Orlando and Carson, Calif. He also assisted with nutrition, sports medicine and injury prevention. Marshall's time at the USTA also afforded him the opportunity to manage strength and conditioning programs for multiple United States Davis Cup teams under captains Patrick McEnroe and Jim Courier. He has also aided in the development of numerous top-100 American women, including, but not limited to, Claire Liu, Christina McHale and Sloane Stephens.
BRUINS ON TOUR
Ena Shibahara earned her first Grand Slam championship in 2022, teaming with Wesley Koolhof to seize the mixed doubles title at Roland-Garros. She also recently made her first major women's doubles final round alongside Shuko Aoyama at the 2023 Australian Open. Shibahara climbed to a career-best No. 4 position in the WTA's doubles rankings in March 2022. Catherine Harrison also had a standout 2022, making her Grand Slam singles and doubles debuts. She advanced through singles qualifying at Wimbledon and continued her success with a first-round win. Harrison and partner Ulrikke Eikeri made a doubles second-round appearance at Roland-Garros and the pair went on to accomplish the same feat at Wimbledon and the US Open. Harrison also collected her first WTA title last year, partnering with Sabrina Santamaria to prevail at the Monterrey Open in Mexico. The following Bruins in the professional ranks achieved career-high WTA rankings in 2022: Robin Anderson (No. 137 singles and 181 doubles), Harrison (214 singles and 69 doubles), Elysia Bolton (230 doubles), Chanelle van Nguyen (350 singles) and Jada Hart (489 doubles).
HEAD COACH STELLA SAMPRAS WEBSTER
Head coach Stella Sampras Webster is in her 27th season at the helm of the UCLA women's tennis program, compiling an impressive overall record of 491-180 (.733). She is the second-longest-tenured active coach at UCLA, behind men's tennis head coach Billy Martin. Sampras Webster has guided her alma mater to NCAA championships in 2008 and 2014, the first two in program history. Her teams have finished top-10 nationally in 21 of her 25 completed seasons and in the top five 15 times. Three doubles pairs have won NCAA titles under Sampras Webster's tutelage, most recently Gabby Andrews and Ayan Broomfield in 2019.
Players Mentioned
