The UCLA men’s tennis team sweeps the University of Michigan, 5-0, at home in the Los Angeles Tennis Center. Friday’s win comes off the sweep of Penn State on the road and is a great start to the Bruins’ homestand. The match proved crucial as it marked UCLA’s eighth conference victory, setting the Bruins at fourth underneath Michigan and Michigan State, the latter whom UCLA will face on Sunday.
The Bruins were dominant right off the bat, securing the doubles point with victories from court one and court three. Senior team Alexander Hoogmartens and Giacomo Revelli only dropped one game against Michigan’s senior Will Cooksey and sophomore Alex Cairo, taking a 6-1 victory for court one.
Court three’s pair of junior Gianluca Ballotta and redshirt sophomore Emon van Loben Sels went up three games over Michigan’s senior Patorn Hanchaikul and junior Nicholas Steiglehner before losing three games in a row to the Michigan team. Ballotta and van Loben Sels eventually came back to win the next three games, claiming a 6-3 victory and the doubles point for UCLA.
Court two held the only doubles loss for UCLA, with sophomore Spencer Johnson and freshman Rudy Quan falling 1-6 to junior Bjorn Swenson and junior Mert Oral of Michigan.
Despite his loss in doubles, Quan battled hard in his court one singles matchup against Cooksey, with the UCLA freshman quickly claiming the upper hand on the Michigan senior with three game wins in a row. The two would trade game wins until Quan eventually secured the set 6-3. Quan fell behind a game at the start of court one’s second set before winning three games in a row to set the score at 3-1. Two losses and three wins later, Quan and Cooksey tied the score at deuce before Quan would score the two consecutive points needed to take the game and the set.
Prior to court one’s victory for the Bruins, courts four, five and six secured their own wins against the Wolverines. Hoogmartens picked up the first singles win for the Bruins, going 6-4 in his first set and 6-3 in his second set against Michigan’s Steiglehner on court four. Revelli followed closely behind, clinching the singles victory for the Bruins against Oral with a score of 6-2, 6-3.
Court five was the last of the three to finish, with Ballotta defeating Cairo 6-3, 6-2. Ballotta ended his day strong, winning five games in a row to clinch the second set and singles victory.
Court three’s matchup of UCLA freshman Kaylan Bigun and Hanchaikul was the only pair to start a third set, the match ending unfinished after the other singles’ victories earned UCLA enough points to secure the win over Michigan. The final unfinished score on court three was 6-3, 3-6, 1-1. Court two was also left unfinished, the matchup between van Loben Sel and Swenson ending at 7-5, 5-1.
The Bruins look to secure another conference victory against No. 28 Michigan State on Sunday, April 13, 12 p.m. at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.
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Featured Image Photographed by Chloe Agas /Daily Bruin
