| Men’s Tennis |
|---|
| UCLA — 4 |
| Oregon — 2 |
Battle-tested, the Bruins remain red hot in a hard-fought performance against the Ducks, thanks to clutch singles victories by sophomore Rudy Quan and freshman Cassius Chinlund.
The No. 21 UCLA men’s tennis (15-6, 9-3 Big Ten) faced off against the Oregon Ducks (14-9, 5-7 Big Ten) on Friday, April 17. At the Student Tennis Center in Eugene, Oregon, the Bruins were victorious4-2.
Oregon started the match on a roll, winning two of three doubles matches. However, UCLA took the first victory of the match with the duo of senior Gianluca Ballota and junior Emon van Loben Sels, winning their match against Oregon’s Cameron Burton and Sam Olszakowski with a 6-3 score.
Oregon immediately responded, winning the remaining two doubles matches and ultimately taking the point. Oregon’s Vlad Breazu and Declan Galligan defeated UCLA’s junior Andy Nguyen and senior Aadarsh Tripathi in a 6-2 final score.
In the last doubles match, Oregon’s Pierre Mouesca and Lachlan Robertson defeated UCLA’s Quan and freshman Bengt Reinhard in a 6-4 matchup to secure the doubles point for Oregon.
The Bruins soon snatched the momentum away from the Ducks and stamped their mark on the match, winning four singles matches and securing the victory.
Nguyen comfortably defeated Robertson (6-2, 6-2), winning the first singles match and giving the Bruins their first point of the day.
Oregon did not go quietly and won the next singles match, Burton defeating Reinhard (6-2, 6-4).
The rest of the match was all Bruins, as they won the third, fourth and fifth matchups against the Ducks.
In the third match, van Loben Sels defeated Mouesca in two hard-fought games (6-4, 6-3). UCLA followed up with a win in the fourth match with Chinlund defeating Galligun (6-4, 6-1).
The closing set was won by Quan, defeating Breazu (6-2, 6-3) and securing the victory for UCLA 4-2.
UCLA’s Tripathi took on Oregon’s Olszakowski in the singles matches, however, the match went unfinished after Quan’s match-sealing victory.
The Bruins got heavy production from their underclassman in the match, especially from Quan and Chinlund in their clutch victories that helped UCLA extend their win streak. These underclassmen have been essential to the Bruins’ success, Quan continuing his stellar performance from winning Big Ten freshman of the year last season, and Chinlund’s emergence on the lower courts as a redshirt freshman.
The Bruins look to end the season against the Washington Huskies on Sunday, April 19, at 12:00 p.m. PST in Seattle and end on a high note before the playoffs begin in May.
