The UCLA men’s tennis team, ranked 14th nationally, secured a narrow 4-3 victory over No. 23 California on Sunday at the Hellman Tennis Complex in Berkeley. The decisive point came from redshirt junior Emon van Loben Sels, who overcame a late deficit in his third set to clinch the match for the Bruins.
After falling behind 2-0 early, UCLA mounted a comeback with singles wins from Spencer Johnson, Andy Nguyen, and Rudy Quan. This run gave the Bruins their first lead of the contest. However, Bernardo Munk Mesa of California evened the score before attention shifted to Court 3 for the final match.
Van Loben Sels was initially ahead 5-2 in his third set but soon trailed 5-6 and faced two match points at 15-40. He managed to force a tiebreaker and prevailed, marking his sixth career win that clinched a team victory for UCLA.
In doubles play, van Loben Sels teamed up with Gianluca Ballotta to secure their second win of the weekend by defeating Alex Aney and Lenn Luemkemann of Cal 6-3 on Court 3. Cal responded with a win on Court 2 as Fryderyk Lechno-Wasiutynski and Andrea Meduri defeated Nguyen and Quan by the same score. The opening doubles point was decided in a tiebreaker on Court 1, where Tiago Silva and Timofey Stepanov edged out Johnson and Aadarsh Tripathi 7-6(4).
California increased its lead when Paris Pouatcha beat Cassius Chinlund in straight sets on court six. But UCLA answered back as Johnson won his singles match against Lechno-Wasiutynski (7-6(6), 6-3), followed by Nguyen’s straight-set victory over Luemkemann (6-4, 6-3) to tie the overall score. Quan then defeated Silva (6-4, 7-5) to give UCLA its first lead.
With matches still ongoing on Courts 3 and 5, Munk Mesa claimed another point for Cal by beating Tripathi (5-7, 6-3, 6-2). This left van Loben Sels’ contest as the decider. Despite losing his first set against Stepanov (1-6), he rallied to take the next two sets—securing both the individual match (1-6, 6-4, 7-6(4)) and team victory for UCLA.
UCLA will travel next to face No. 25 Pepperdine at Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center on Saturday, February 7 at 2 p.m.
Match Results:
Singles
1. #75 Spencer Johnson (UCLA) def. Fryderyk Lechno-Wasiutynski (CAL) – 7-6(8), 6–3
2. #53 Rudy Quan (UCLA) def. Tiago Silva (CAL) – 6–4, 7–5
3. #20 Emon van Loben Sels (UCLA) def. Timofey Stepanov (CAL) – 1–6, 6–4, 7–6(4)
4. Andy Nguyen (UCLA) def. Lenn Luemkemann (CAL) – 6–4, 6–3
5. Bernardo Munk Mesa (CAL) def. Aadarsh Tripathi (UCLA) – 5–7, 6–3, 6–2
6. Paris Pouatcha (CAL) def. Cassius Chinlund (UCLA) – 6–3, 6–4
Doubles
1. #55 Tiago Silva/Timofey Stepanov (CAL) def. Spencer Johnson/Aadarsh Tripathi (UCLA) – 7–6(4)
2. Fryderyk Lechno-Wasiutynski/Andrea Meduri (CAL) def Andy Nguyen/Rudy Quan (UCLA) – 6–3
3. Gianluca Ballotta/Emon van Loben Sels (UCLA) def Alex Aney/Lenn Luemkemann(CAL)— ️ —— ———— ——————— ——————————————— —— ———— ——————— ——————————————— —— ———— ——————— ——————————————— —— ———— ——————— ——————————————— —— ———— ——————— ——————————————— —— ———— ——————— ——————————————— —— —
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