| Men’s Tennis |
|---|
| UCLA — 0 |
| San Diego — 4 |
Momentum came quickly. It just didn’t last long enough.
No. 20 UCLA men’s tennis (18-8, 10-3 Big Ten) opened NCAA tournament play with a convincing 4-0 sweep over No. 31 Arizona State (17-11, 4-4 Big 12) before falling 4-0 to No. 17 San Diego (22-5, 6-1 WCC) in the second round, ending its season one step short of the super regionals.
Across two days in San Diego, the Bruins showed both sides of postseason tennis — control and composure in one match, pressure and missed opportunities in the next.
From the first doubles point, the Toreros took command. Senior Aadarsh Tripathi and junior Andy Nguyen lost 6-3, and junior Spencer Johnson, paired with freshman Bengt Reinhard, dropped a 6-2 loss.
No. 80 sophomore Rudy Quan walked away with an unfinished singles match, winning the first set 7-6 but dropping the second set 6-3. No. 40 redshirt junior Emon van Loben Sels suffered a 6-2, 7-6 (3) loss to San Diego’s Stian Klaassen.
Against host San Diego, UCLA never found their footing. The Toreros claimed the opening point with wins on courts one and two, putting the Bruins immediately on the defensive.
That pressure carried into singles, where San Diego took five of six first sets and controlled the tempo from the baseline.
Tripathi’s loss on court four pushed the deficit to 2-0, and shortly after, No. 19 Oliver Tarvet defeated No. 56 Johnson 6-4, 7-5 on court one to bring UCLA to the brink.
Unlike the day before, the Bruins were in the match — just not ahead in it.
Quan had split sets on court two and was into a third. Nguyen and redshirt freshman Cassius Chinlund were both locked in unfinished battles of their own. But the momentum never fully turned.
UCLA had its chances, but San Diego capitalized first.
That contrast defined the weekend.
Against Arizona State, UCLA dictated everything. The pace, the points, the outcome. Against San Diego, the Bruins were forced into pressure and in NCAA tennis, that shift can decide everything.
The result closes UCLA’s season at 18-8, one that showed flashes of dominance and depth, but also the reality of postseason tennis: the difference between advancing and going home is often just a few games, a few points or a single tiebreak.
