The UCLA women’s tennis team, currently ranked 17th nationally, will begin its 2025-26 dual-match season at home against San Diego State on Sunday, January 18. The match is set to take place at the Los Angeles Tennis Center with a scheduled start time of 1 p.m. Pacific Time. Admission is free for attendees, and live scoring and streaming will be available online through the UCLA Athletics website.
The Bruins are coming off an 18-9 season that concluded in the NCAA Championship round of 16, where they were narrowly defeated by Texas A&M, who went on to become the national runner-up. UCLA brings back key players including top individual winners Kate Fakih and Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer as well as four of its six regular starters from last year. The roster is also bolstered by a recruiting class ranked among the nation’s top five by the Tennis Recruiting Network.
Fans can follow live updates during matches via UCLA’s official women’s tennis X account and access real-time scores and streams for home games online.
Historically, UCLA leads its series against San Diego State with a record of 27 wins to eight losses. In their most recent meeting on March 1, 2025, San Diego State won a close contest by a score of 4-3 in San Diego.
During the fall portion of this season, Ahmani Guichard led the Bruins with six singles victories and five doubles wins. Freshman Mayu Crossley qualified for the NCAA Championship singles tournament after reaching the semifinals at the ITA West Sectional Championships. Kate Fakih earned two singles wins over top-50 opponents at the ITA All-American Championships and paired with Guichard to win the doubles consolation title at sectionals.
As of January 7, UCLA holds the No. 17 spot in team rankings while Kate Fakih is ranked No. 75 individually in singles as of November 25, 2025.
Several Bruins have received recognition for their performances: Ahmani Guichard was named a Big Ten Women’s Tennis Player to Watch on January 5; Mayu Crossley earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors on November 17; and Guichard was voted Big Ten Player of the Week earlier in September.
In review of last season (2024-25), UCLA entered NCAA Championship play unseeded despite winning nine out of its final ten matches but advanced to the round of sixteen after defeating Vanderbilt in a narrow match. Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer earned All-Big Ten First Team honors and was named ITA Southwest Region Player to Watch after stepping up as UCLA’s top singles player. Olivia Center and Kate Fakih reached second place in doubles at nationals, earning both freshmen All-America status.
Returning players include Fakih and Lutkemeyer—each bringing over fifty combined singles and doubles wins from last year—and sophomore Olivia Center, who partnered with Fakih for a standout doubles record that included thirteen ranked victories and an appearance in last year’s NCAA Championship doubles final.
Three freshmen join this year’s squad: Kayla Chung (Stanton, California), whose achievements include several high-level junior finals appearances; Mayu Crossley (Tokyo), who played all junior Grand Slam events and achieved an ITF junior ranking as high as No. 5; and Rona Rugara (Johannesburg), who claimed nine ITF junior titles between 2023-25.
Former Bruin Ena Shibahara has continued her professional career successfully since leaving UCLA after playing during the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons. She improved her singles world ranking significantly between 2024–2025, debuted in Grand Slam main draws at both US Open tournaments, reached her first WTA Tour singles quarterfinals at ATX Open in Austin by defeating Kimberly Birrell (then ranked No.76), won her first Grand Slam mixed doubles title at Roland-Garros in partnership with Wesley Koolhof in 2022, appeared in major women’s doubles finals alongside Shuko Aoyama at both Australian Open (2023) and National Bank Open (Toronto) that same year—rising to world No.4 in WTA’s doubles rankings by March 2022.
This season marks head coach Stella Sampras Webster’s thirtieth year leading UCLA women’s tennis—a tenure only surpassed among active coaches at UCLA by men’s coach Billy Martin. Over her career she has compiled a record of “542-201 (.729)” according to university records: “Sampras Webster collected the 500th win of her illustrious career when the Bruins defeated UC San Diego on April 18, 2023.” Under her leadership since taking over from mentor Bill Zaima following four years as assistant coach (1993–96), Sampras Webster has guided teams to two NCAA championships (2008 & 2014), three conference titles while competing within Pac-12 (2008/21/24), four NCAA individual championships—including Tian Fangran (singles champion in 2023)—and numerous top-ten national finishes: “Sampras Webster’s teams have finished top-10 nationally in 23 of her 28 completed seasons.” She has been recognized multiple times regionally/nationally for coaching excellence—earning Wilson ITA Southwest Regional Coach of Year honors four times plus national award once—and was inducted into UCLA Athletic Hall Of Fame in 2018.
