The UCLA men’s tennis team, ranked 12th nationally, opened its season with a 7-0 win over UC Irvine at the Los Angeles Tennis Center on Saturday. The Bruins dominated both singles and doubles play, securing victories across all completed matches.
Cassius Chinlund made his dual-match debut for UCLA and clinched the overall win by defeating Greg Gamal 7-5, 6-3 on Court 6. Andy Nguyen, a transfer from UC Irvine, also won his first match as a Bruin in singles against Sohrob Amiryavari after a closely contested tiebreaker.
In doubles action, the pair of Spencer Johnson and Emon van Loben Sels, ranked 19th nationally, defeated Max Fardanesh and Tal Goodman with a score of 6-1. Rudy Quan and Aadarsh Tripathi followed with another victory for UCLA in doubles play.
Senior Gianluca Ballotta began his final dual-match campaign by winning in straight sets against Ruining Huang. Rudy Quan added to the team’s lead with a two-set victory over Goodman. Van Loben Sels came back from losing the first set to win his singles match on Court 3.
The remaining matches were played out despite the team result being decided early. Johnson closed out the sweep with a comeback win over Sakagawa.
UCLA’s next match is scheduled for Friday, January 23 during ITA Kickoff Weekend at the Los Angeles Tennis Center. The Bruins will face New Mexico at 1 p.m., following an earlier match between Pacific and UC Santa Barbara at 10 a.m. The event continues with consolation and championship contests the following day.
“Andy Nguyen, a transfer from UCI, was also triumphant in his first match as a Bruin.”
“Spencer Johnson, Rudy Quan and Emon van Loben Sels each won twice.”
“UCLA jumped out to commanding leads on all three doubles courts and positive results soon followed.”
“The 19th-ranked duo of Johnson and van Loben Sels was first to finish, beating Max Fardanesh and Tal Goodman by a 6-1 score.”
“Then, with each of the Bruins’ two remaining pairs holding match point, it was No. 47 Nguyen/Aadarsh Tripathi providing the clincher.”
“The tandem, which like Johnson/van Loben Sels competed in the NCAA Championship doubles tournament during the fall, topped Rohan Sachdev and Hiroki Sakagawa by a 6-2 margin on Court 2.”
“Gianluca Ballotta started his final dual-match campaign with a bang, beating Ruining Huand 6-1, 6-2 on Court 5.”
“No. 53 Rudy Quan then completed his perfect day with a 6-2, 6-2 decision over Goodman on Court 2.”
“Chinlund dug himself out of an early hole on Court 6, outlasting Greg Gamal for a 7-5 first-set win.”
“UCLA’s redshirt freshman… took hold of the second en route to his deciding 7-5, 6-3 result.”
The Bruins now hold an overall record of one win without losses this season.
