UCLA men’s tennis team secured a 4-2 victory over Indiana in their Big Ten Conference opener at the IU Tennis Center in Bloomington. The Bruins, now holding a 7-3 overall record and 1-0 in conference play, overcame an early deficit after Indiana won the doubles point and led 2-1 during the match.
Emon van Loben Sels clinched the win for UCLA with his performance on Court 3, defeating Facundo Yunis 7-6(3), 6-2. This marked van Loben Sels’s third match-clinching victory of the season and eighth of his collegiate career.
Other singles wins for UCLA came from Cassius Chinlund, Rudy Quan, and Aadarsh Tripathi. Chinlund notched his sixth win in eight dual matches by beating Braeden Gelletich 7-5, 6-2 on Court 5. Quan continued his strong form with a three-set win over Jip van Assendelft (6-1, 4-6, 6-1) on Court 2; he has now won six consecutive singles matches and holds a dual play record of 7-1 this season.
Tripathi contributed to UCLA’s comeback by defeating Michael Andre (6-4, 6-2) on Court 4. For Indiana, Aidan Atwood secured their only singles victory with a straight sets win against Bengt Reinhard (6-4, 6-4) on Court 6.
In doubles competition, Indiana’s pairings were successful on Courts 2 and 3 to secure the opening point. Braeden Gelletich/Facundo Yunis defeated Quan/Bengt Reinhard (6-2), while Michael Andre/Matteo Antonescu bested van Loben Sels/Gianluca Ballotta (6-4). The match between Sam Landau/Jip van Assendelft (Indiana) and Spencer Johnson/Aadarsh Tripathi (UCLA) was left unfinished at a tiebreaker stage.
The top-court singles contest between No.57 Spencer Johnson (UCLA) and Sam Landau (Indiana) was abandoned during its third set.
UCLA will continue its road trip with a scheduled match at Purdue’s Schwartz Tennis Center this Sunday at 8 a.m. PT.
