Ucla Men's Tennis
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UCLA MEN’S TENNIS UCLA Athletic Communications / J.D. Morgan Center / 325 Westwood Plaza / Los Angeles, CA 90095 Men’s Tennis Contact: Andrew Sinatra / [email protected] / o: (310) 206-8141 / c: (310) 613-7389 2021 UCLA MTEN SCHEDULE No. 23 Men’s Tennis Hosts Stanford, UC Irvine to Open Week (5-2, 1-0 PAC-12) Monday, March 22 & Tuesday, March 23 Los Angeles, Calif. (Los Angeles Tennis Center) January Sat. 23 vs. California 1 W 4-0 MATCH INFORMATION Mon. 25 at (1) USC 1 L 1-4 Date/Time: Monday, March 22/1:00 PM PT Tuesday, March 23/11:00 AM PT February Live Stream/Live Stats: UCLABruins.com 2-0, 0-0 Thu. 4 Boise State Canceled Series vs. Stanford: UCLA leads, 74-52 vs. Sat. 20 Loyola Marymount W 4-1 Series vs. UC Irvine: UCLA leads, 40-2 Wed. 24 UC Santa Barbara W 6-1 Last Meeting vs. Stanford: Stanford won 4-2 on Feb. 1, 2020 5-2, 1-0 Sun. 28 (9) USC L 3-4 Last Meeting vs. UCI: UCLA won 4-0 on Feb. 23, 2020 4-3 March The No. 23 UCLA men’s tennis team returns from a short spring break Monday to face Stanford in the first of back-to-back Tue. 2 UNLV W 6-1 dates against in-state foes at Los Angeles Tennis Center. The Bruins, possessors of a 5-2 overall record, are coming off a Wed. 10 (27) Pepperdine Postponed home win over Utah in their Pac-12 debut. The Cardinal (2-0, 0-0 Pac-12), which did not play its first match of the season Fri. 12 Utah* W 6-1 until March 12, visits for a non-conference contest at 1 p.m., PT. UCLA is also set to host UC Irvine (4-3), which will make Mon. 22 Stanford 1:00 PM its way to Westwood for an 11 a.m., PT start Tuesday. The Bruins will travel to Arizona for the resumption of Pac-12 play Tue. 23 UC Irvine 11:00 AM in the back end of the week. Fri. 26 at (19) Arizona State* 2:00 PM Sun. 28 at (15) Arizona* 1:00 PM FOLLOW LIVE Fans are not permitted to attend events at UCLA Athletics venues, including Los Angeles Tennis Center, in adherence to April the latest COVID-19 guidelines set by the state of California and Los Angeles County. Live streaming and live scoring for all Fri. 2 (49) Oregon* 2:00 PM home UCLA men’s tennis matches will be available at UCLABruins.com. Sat. 3 Washington* 1:00 PM Tue. 6 (47) San Diego 2:30 PM LAST TIME OUT Fri. 9 at Stanford* 1:00 PM No. 18 UCLA bounced back from a lost doubles point and two rain delays to defeat Utah, 6-1, in the teams’ Pac-12 opener Sat. 10 at (43) California* 1:00 PM March 12 at Los Angeles Tennis Center. Sam Feit clinched the victory for the Bruins. Mathew Tsolakyan, Keegan Smith Fri. 16 at (11) USC* 3:00 PM and Roscoe Bellamy also contributed to UCLA’s first four points with straight-set wins. Drew Baird and Ben Goldberg each Wed. 21 Pac-12 Championships 2 TBD prevailed in three sets to complete the singles sweep. Thu. 22 Pac-12 Championships 2 TBD Fri. 23 Pac-12 Championships 2 TBD UCLA VS. STANFORD/UCI Sat. 24 Pac-12 Championships 2 TBD UCLA men’s tennis holds an all-time record of 74-52 versus Stanford. The programs last faced off Feb. 1, 2020, when the Cardinal logged a 4-2 win at Taube Family Tennis Center. The Bruins got off on the right foot, earning the doubles May point in thrilling fashion. Govind Nanda would post their only win the rest of the way, however, as Stanford won two third 7-9 NCAA First & Second Rounds 3 TBD sets to account for the difference in final score. UCLA is 40-2 against UC Irvine, most recently picking up a 4-0 defeat of 14 or 15 NCAA Third Round 4 TBD the Anteaters on Feb. 23, 2020 at Los Angeles Tennis Center. Mathew Tsolakyan clinched the victory. It was a big day for 20-23 NCAA Championships 5 TBD Nanda and Keegan Smith, who each prevailed in singles play and teamed to capture the doubles point in a winner-take-all tiebreaker on the top court. NOTE: Ranking in parenthesis indicates position in that week’s Oracle/ ITA Top-25 Poll IN THE RANKINGS KEY: The UCLA men’s tennis team checks in at No. 23 in the latest Oracle ITA team rankings, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association 1 ITA Kickoff Weekend (Los Angeles Tennis Center) announced Wednesday, March 17. The player rankings, announced Jan. 13, feature Bruins Keegan Smith (No. 10), Govind 2 Pac-12 Championships (at Libbey Park, Ojai, Calif.) Nanda (22) and Sam Feit (109). The doubles team of Nanda and Smith checked in at No. 13, the best-ever ranking for the 3 NCAA First & Second Rounds (Location TBD) combination. Smith reached a career-best No. 4 in the singles rankings (March 3), while Nanda rose to a personal-best 4 NCAA Third Round (Location TBD) 5 NCAA Championships (at USTA National Campus - Collegiate showing of No. 10 (Feb. 5), in 2020. Feit, who joined the program as a transfer from during the summer of 2020, also Center, Orlando, Fla.) received a career-high listing. * Pac-12 matches BY THE NUMBERS UCLA ON SOCIAL MEDIA Head coach Billy Martin led his teams to 68 straight home wins from May 8, 2015 to Feb. 28, 2021, when the streak Men’s Tennis Twitter: @UCLATennis was ended by crosstown rival USC. The Bruins will try to extend a pair of conference-related runs during the 2021 regular season: Men’s Tennis Instagram: @UCLAMTennis 32 – UCLA teams have won 32 Pac-12 regular-season matches in a row since the start of the 2016 season. Men’s Tennis Facebook: /UCLAMensTennis 4 – UCLA has won four straight Pac-12 regular-season championships. UCLA Athletics Twitter: @UCLAAthletics UCLA Athletics Instagram: @UCLAAthletics TOP-TIER TRIUMPHS UCLA Athletics Facebook: /UCLAAthletics Drew Baird, Ben Goldberg and Keegan Smith defeated a trio of Oracle ITA top-26 players in the Bruins’ narrow home loss #GoBruins to USC on Feb. 28. Each win represents a career best in terms of ranking. Baird dispatched of No. 19 Riley Smith, 6-3, 6-4, for his third straight-set victory in a row. Goldberg knocked off No. 26 Mor Bulis, 7-6(5), 6-2, for his second-career win on Court 3. And in a top-court showdown, No. 10 Smith took down No. 1 Daniel Cukierman, 6-2, 7-5, evening their personal series at two wins apiece. Smith is now 24-14 versus nationally-ranked opponents for his career. Baird is 2-2 in those situations, while Goldberg holds a 5-6 mark. SELL RETURNS TO WESTWOOD The UCLA men’s tennis program has hired former standout Karue Sell to the position of volunteer assistant coach, head coach Billy Martin announced Monday. A native of Jaragua do Sul, Brazil, Sell embarked on a professional career after posting records of 104-31 in singles matches and 90-41 in doubles play for the Bruins from 2013-16. He was an active tournament participant into 2019 before working with Naomi Osaka, the current WTA No. 2 singles player. Sell was by Osaka’s side when she won her third Grand Slam singles championship at the 2020 US Open and continued to assist her 2020-21 UCLA MEN’S TENNIS MEDIA INFORMATION as she took the top spot at the 2021 Australian Open. Sell also served as volunteer assistant coach for Pepperdine under UCLA Athletic Communications head coach Marcelo Ferreira during the 2016-17 season. J.D. Morgan Center, Suite 128 325 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095 SMITH BACK FOR MORE Senior Keegan Smith possesses career records of 86-19 in singles play and 62-25 in doubles action. He captured the NCAA Men’s Tennis Contact Andrew Sinatra Office Phone (310) 206-8141 doubles championship with Maxime Cressy in 2019, the last time the tournament was played. The pair was undefeated Cell Phone (310) 613-7389 in 21 matches and 26 sets. Smith is a three-time All-American and looks to join Brian Teacher (1973-76), Ferdi Taygan Fax (310) 825-8664 (1974-77) and Marcel Freeman (1979-82) in UCLA’s exclusive club of four-timers. E-mail [email protected] Website www.uclabruins.com NEWCOMERS Media Availability UCLA men’s tennis added to the fold three newcomers in Sam Feit, Stefan Leustian and Timothy Li. Feit, a graduate transfer Head coach Billy Martin’s weekly media availability typically takes place from Gonzaga University, spent a majority of his four seasons atop the Zags’ singles and doubles lineups. He earned All- before the team’s Tuesday practice, which usually runs from 1:45-4:15 WCC Singles honors in 2018 and 2019, including a spot on the First Team as a junior, when he went 24-8. Feit also netted p.m. at Los Angeles Tennis Center. Players are available to the media at the same time. Practices are not open to the public. All-WCC First- (2019) and Second-Team (2018) Doubles accolades. Leustian, a Blue-Chip prospect as the No. 6 player in his class according to TennisRecruiting.net, won the prestigious Les Petits As tournament in Tarbes, France in 2016 Credentials as a 14-year old.