University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Men's Tennis to Face Oregon in Pac-12 Tournament Semifinals
Oregon advanced to Friday's semifinals following a pair of upsets. The Ducks downed sixth-seeded Washington, 4-2 on Wednesday afternoon and followed that win up with a 4-2 victory over third-seeded Stanford on Thursday. As the No. 2 seed, UCLA automatically advanced to the semifinals along with top-seeded USC.
UCLA is the defending Pac-12 Tournament champion, winning last year's title following a 4-2 victory over USC in the 2013 championship match. The Bruins opened up last season's tournament with a 4-0 win over Stanford in the semifinals.
UCLA concluded the regular season last week, suffering a 4-2 loss to No. 3 USC at the Marks Tennis Stadium across town. The two teams entered the match with identical 6-0 records in Pac-12 play, knowing that the winner would take home the conference's regular-season title. The Bruins won the doubles point but were only able to grab one win in singles play, as Marcos Giron notched a 7-6, 6-3 win over USC's Ray Sarmiento at court No. 2.
Despite its loss to USC, UCLA remained at No. 5 this week in the ITA Rankings released on Tuesday. Individually, the Bruins are the only team in the country with two singles players ranked in the top 5 nationally in No. 1 Clay Thompson and No. 3 Marcos Giron. Mackenzie McDonald (No. 33), Gage Brymer (No. 93) and Karue Sell (No. 100) are also ranked. In doubles, Giron is ranked with two different partners, checking in at No. 13 with McDonald and at No. 47 with Sell. Complete rankings can be found here:
Team | Singles | Doubles
Following the Pac-12 Tournament, UCLA will then turn its focus to the NCAA Championships. The Bruins are expected to host first and second round play at the Los Angeles Tennis Center. The 64-team draw for this year's tournament will be announced on Tuesday, April 29th at 2:00 p.m. (PST). The selection show can be seen live on NCAA.com by clicking HERE.