The UCLA men’s tennis team, currently ranked No. 15 nationally, is set to face No. 24 Pepperdine at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center in Malibu on Saturday, February 7, with play scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. PT. This will be the Bruins’ third consecutive match against a nationally-ranked opponent and their third of seven straight away games.
Live video and scoring for the match will be available through Pepperdine’s online platforms, while fans can also follow in-match updates via the UCLA men’s tennis X account. For home matches at Los Angeles Tennis Center, live streaming and scoring are accessible online.
Historically, UCLA leads its series against Pepperdine with a record of 55-18. However, in their most recent meeting on February 16, 2025, Pepperdine secured a 4-2 victory.
In their last outings, UCLA split two close matches in Northern California. The Bruins narrowly lost to No. 3 Stanford but rebounded with a win over No. 23 California. During the win against Cal, Emon van Loben Sels clinched the deciding point after overcoming a deficit late in his match.
As of February 4 rankings, UCLA is positioned at No. 15 as a team. In singles rankings, Emon van Loben Sels stands at No. 35, Rudy Quan at No. 111, and Spencer Johnson at No. 118. The doubles teams of Johnson/van Loben Sels and Quan/Aadarsh Tripathi are ranked Nos. 52 and 57 respectively.
Redshirt junior Emon van Loben Sels has developed a reputation for thriving late in close matches: “With all eyes on Court 3, where van Loben Sels squared off against Timofey Stepanov, the Bruin saw his 5-2 third-set lead turn into a 5-6, 15-40 deficit. The next three points would go the way of van Loben Sels, as well as seven of 11 in the tiebreaker to give UCLA a team victory.” His performance follows earlier decisive wins that have contributed to six clinching victories for his team during his career.
Several Bruins are nearing significant milestones; Spencer Johnson is approaching his hundredth career win across singles and doubles competitions with a current total of ninety-four victories.
Recent accolades include Rudy Quan being named Big Ten Men’s Tennis Player to Watch and Spencer Johnson earning Big Ten Player of the Week honors during the previous season.
During fall competition, four Bruins participated in NCAA Championship individual draws for both singles and doubles events.
Last season (2024-25), UCLA finished with a record of nineteen wins and nine losses overall (11-2 in Big Ten play). The team won seventeen out of its final twenty matches and captured its first Big Ten Tournament championship by defeating Ohio State—ending Ohio State’s seventy-six-match home winning streak—and advanced to its first NCAA Championship quarterfinals after beating USC.
On April 27, 2025, UCLA claimed its first-ever Big Ten Conference title: “UCLA on April 27, 2025 claimed its first-ever Big Ten Conference title and snapped top-seeded Ohio State’s seventy-six-match home winning streak – which dated back to twenty twenty-one – to do so.” Emon van Loben Sels was named Most Outstanding Player for his role in securing this victory.
Returning players include four of last year’s top six singles winners: Emon van Loben Sels (who led with twenty-four singles wins), All-Americans Spencer Johnson and Aadarsh Tripathi (both strong contributors despite injuries), Rudy Quan (Big Ten Freshman of the Year), and Gianluca Ballotta (noted for doubles success).
New additions this season are Cassius Chinlund (a former top-ranked USTA junior), Andy Nguyen (transferring from UC Irvine where he earned all-conference honors), and Bengt Reinhard from Germany who holds national titles in youth divisions there.
Former Bruins continue to make an impact professionally: Maxime Cressy achieved an ATP Tour championship before stepping away due to injury; Marcos Giron reached ATP singles ranking No.59 after notable tournament runs; Mackenzie McDonald represented Team USA at Davis Cup Finals; Jean-Julien Rojer added another Grand Slam doubles title at Roland-Garros in twenty-two alongside multiple ATP championships since then.
Head coach Billy Martin enters his thirty-third year leading UCLA men’s tennis—a tenure marked by consistent high-level results including one NCAA team title (2005) among many conference championships: “The twenty-twenty-five–twenty-six season marks head coach Billy Martin’s thirty-third year at the helm of the UCLA men’s tennis program…Martin guided the two thousand five Bruins to the program’s sixteenth NCAA team title…” Martin also boasts several players who have won NCAA singles or doubles titles under his leadership.
