UCLA
Utah
Men's Tennis Heads for Pac-12 Championships
April 26, 2023 | Men's Tennis
The UCLA men's tennis team starts postseason play Thursday, when it wraps up the first full day of Pac-12 Championships in Ojai, Calif. with a rematch of its regular-season finale against Utah. First serve between the sixth-seeded Bruins (12-9, 3-5 Pac-12) and No. 3-seed Utes (21-4, 6-2) is scheduled for 6 p.m. PT at Libbey Park. Utah edged UCLA in a 4-3 result April 22 at Los Angeles Tennis Center. Matches continue through Saturday's final, which will be televised by Pac-12 Networks.
2023 PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS
Wednesday, April 26
Match 1: #8 Arizona State vs. #9 Oregon 12 p.m.
Thursday, April 27
Match 2: #4 Stanford vs. #5 California 9 a.m.
Match 3: #1 USC vs. Winner Match 1 12 p.m.
Match 4: #2 Arizona vs. #7 Washington 3 p.m.
Match 5: #3 Utah vs. #6 UCLA 6 p.m.
Friday, April 28
Match 6: Winner Match 2 vs. Winner Match 3 1 p.m.
Match 7: Winner Match 4 vs. Winner Match 5 4 p.m.
Saturday, April 29
Match 8: Winner Match 6 vs. Winner Match 7 6 p.m.
FOLLOW LIVE
Information regarding tickets, live streams and television coverage is available HERE.
LAST TIME OUT
UCLA was outlasted in its regular-season finale April 22 by No. 19 Utah for a 4-3 result at Los Angeles Tennis Center. Taking his home courts for the final time was redshirt senior Patrick Zahraj, who was honored by head coach Billy Martin and the rest of the UCLA program following doubles play. Also recognized was Drew Baird. Zahraj finished the day with victories on the singles and doubles courts. Also triumphant for the Bruins on both were Zahraj's doubles mate, Gianluca Ballotta. The Utes overcame a 2-0 deficit and singles wins by Bruno Caula, Geronimo Espin Busleiman and Patrick Trhac preceded the clincher by Francisco Bastias.
UCLA AT THE PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS
UCLA men's tennis has captured the conference's team tournament title four times since the format was adopted in 2012 (2013, 2014, 2016, 2018). USC has won the other six championships. The Bruins have twice achieved runner-up status (2012, 2017). Last year, fifth-seeded UCLA had its time ended in the Pac-12 Championships semifinal round at Libbey Park, as No. 8-seed Washington triumphed in a 4-3 match. Jeffrey Fradkin, Karl Lee and Bryce Pereira were each victorious in singles play for the Bruins, but Cesar Bouchelaghem prevailed in the day's final match for the Huskies. Clement Chidekh and Jack Davis also earned singles wins for UW, which also narrowly took the doubles point.
IN THE RANKINGS
UCLA is No. 36 in the most recent ITA Team Rankings, released Tuesday. All rankings have been computerized since Feb. 21. The top 25 teams were previously determined by coaches poll. The ITA National Doubles Rankings, also announced Tuesday, include career highs for Timothy Li and Giacomo Revelli. Now slotted at No. 49, the combination of Li and Revelli has knocked off No. 41 Berk Bugarikj and Patrik Trhac of Utah (April 22 โ 6-4), No. 30 Joshua Charlton and Quinn Vandecasteele of Oregon (April 15 โ 7-5) and No. 73 Jay Friend and Jonas Ziverts of Arizona (March 31 โ 7-5). Alexander Hoogmartens sits at No. 88 in the singles rankings. He reached a career-best No. 15 Feb. 8. Each of Hoogmartens' most recent five wins has come versus an opponent ranked in the top 50 of the ITA National Singles Rankings. He is 7-3 overall against nationally-ranked foes during the 2022-23 season. Hoogmartens' four latest singles victories have also come in straight sets, starting when he beat No. 43 Trey Hilderbrand of Texas A&M 6-3, 6-2 (Jan. 13) at the Sherwood Collegiate Cup in Thousand Oaks, Calif. To start the dual-match campaign, Hoogmartens has knocked off No. 41 Andre Ilagan of Hawai'i (Jan. 20 โ 6-4, 6-1), No. 31 Daniel De Jonge of Pepperdine (Jan. 21 โ 6-1, 6-3), No. 39 Pablo Alemany of Memphis (Jan. 28 โ 6-1, 6-4) and No. 47 Sema Pankin of Portland (Feb. 4 โ 6-4, 6-3).
CLINCH WATCH
Gianluca Ballotta (Yale, Pennsylvania and Portland) and Azuma Visaya (at Arizona State, Pepperdine and Hawai'i) each have three clinching wins this season to lead the Bruins. Giacomo Revelli (UC San Diego, vs. Memphis) and Patrick Zahraj (Oregon, UC Irvine) have two apiece. Timothy Li (Washington) and Aadarsh Tripathi (Oklahoma State) have each posted the fourth point once on the year.
HOOGMARTENS HONORED BY PAC-12
Alexander Hoogmartens was named Pac-12 Player of the Week for the week of Jan. 16-22, the conference announced Jan. 24. Hoogmartens defended his spot on the top singles court emphatically as the Bruins opened the dual-match portion of their season with home wins against Hawai'i and No. 19 Pepperdine. The sophomore defeated No. 41 Andre Ilagan of the Rainbow Warriors (6-4, 6-1) and No. 31 Daniel De Jonge of the Waves (6-1, 6-3), increasing his 2022-23 win total versus players ranked in the ITA's top 50 to five since the fall. Hoogmartens contributed to each of UCLA's first two points scored in its 4-3 victory against Pepperdine, also teaming with Timothy Li to outlast Maxi Homberg and Eero Vasa in a tiebreaker, 10-8. The Court 2 decision came after the other two doubles results were split. The Pac-12 Player of the Week award represents the second of Hoogmartens' career and 48th in UCLA men's tennis program history.
FALL RECAP
The Bruins took part in five tournaments โ including two national events โ before the new year. Alexander Hoogmartens racked up a team-high seven singles wins, including two versus nationally-ranked opponents. He reached the ITA Southwest Regional Championships singles final round, beating No. 46 Gustaf Strom and No. 45 Tim Zeitvogel of Pepperdine along the way. Jeffrey Fradkin and Patrick Zahraj picked up five doubles victories each to lead the squad. Fradkin and Aadarsh Tripathi collaborated on a championship run at the UCSB Classic. Hoogmartens and Zahraj teamed to qualify for the ITA All-American Championships main draw.
2021-22 IN REVIEW
The 2021-22 Bruins went 13-12, but had their season stopped short of the NCAA team tournament. UCLA got past higher-seeded Utah in the Pac-12 Championships quarterfinal round, but came up on the wrong end of a 4-3 decision in its final-four matchup with Washington. The Bruins won six of their final eight matches. Individually, Alexander Hoogmartens became the first UCLA freshman to make the Pac-12's All-Conference First Team since Daniel Kosakowski in 2011. Patrick Zahraj earned Honorable Mention recognition. Hoogmartens qualified for the NCAA Championships singles tournament. He turned in a team-high 14 doubles wins while playing alongside three different partners. Stefan Leustian led all Bruins with 19 singles victories.
WHO'S NEW?
The UCLA roster features freshmen Gianluca Ballotta, Aadarsh Tripathi, Emon van Loben Sels and Azuma Visaya. Ballotta (Lima, Peru) holds a career-high ITF junior ranking of No. 42 and qualified for the singles and doubles draws at the 2022 US Open Junior Championships. Tripathi (Pleasanton, Calif.), a Blue Chip recruit according to TennisRecruiting.net, won the Boys' 16 doubles championship alongside van Loben Sels at the 2019 USTA National Level 3: Coyote Cup in Scottsdale, Ariz. Van Loben Sels, also a Blue Chip talent, teamed with Ethan Schiffman to claim the Boys' 16 doubles title at the 2021 Easter Bowl in San Diego. Visaya, another Blue Chip prospect and the top-rated player in Hawaii, swept singles and doubles championships at a number of USTA events in his home state.
BRUINS ON TOUR
Former UCLA standouts continue to become household names in the professional ranks, with Maxime Cressy, Marcos Giron, Mackenzie McDonald and Jean-Julien Rojer turning in notable results across the Grand Slams and on the ATP Tour. Cressy picked up his first ATP Tour championship when he beat Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan at the 2022 Hall of Fame Open in Newport, R.I. Giron was the singles runner-up at the 2022 San Diego Open. McDonald opened 2023 by beating top seed and defending champion Rafael Nadal in three sets at the Australian Open. Rojer collected his fourth Grand Slam title at Roland-Garros in 2022, teaming with Marcelo Arevalo to defeat Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek in the final. Rojer also won the 2023 Delray Beach Open doubles crown alongside Arevalo in February. Cressy (39, career-high 31 in 2022), McDonald (54, career-high 48 in 2022) and Giron (61, career-high 49 in 2022) are currently ranked among the ATP's top 70 singles players. Rojer is tied for No. 8 on the doubles list.
ANOTHER MARTIN MILESTONE
Head coach Billy Martin is in his 30th year at the helm of the UCLA men's tennis program and this season marks his 40th since joining the staff of friend, mentor and fellow UCLA Athletic Hall of Famer Glenn Bassett. Martin, who passed Bassett to became the program's all-time leader in head-coaching wins during the 2019 season, is the longest-tenured active coach at UCLA. He holds a record of 642-156 (.805) at the helm. He guided the 2005 Bruins to the program's 16th NCAA team title and just five Martin-led squads have finished outside the top five at the season-ending NCAA Championships. Benjamin Kohlloeffel (2006), Marcos Giron (2014) and Mackenzie McDonald (2016) have earned NCAA singles titles on Martin's watch, while UCLA has become a frequent landing spot for doubles champions of late. In addition to 1996 winners Justin Gimelstob and Srdjan Muskatirovic, three of the most recent six titleholders (McDonald/Martin Redlicki in 2016, Redlicki/Evan Zhu in 2018 and Maxime Cressy/Keegan Smith in 2019 have called Westwood home.
Players Mentioned
