Pac-12 announces tennis players of the week

SAN FRANCISCO - USC senior Jonny Wang and CALIFORNIA freshman Karla Popovic were named the Pac-12 Men’s and Women’s Tennis Players of the Week for play from Mar. 9-15, the Conference office announced today.

Wang (San Marino, Calif.) was the hero of the day in USC’s crosstown rivalry win over No. 14 UCLA. The senior tallied his fourth-consecutive singles win and first match-clinching victory of the season when he earned a second-set tiebreaker to beat UCLA’s Karue Sell 6-4, 7-6 (4) and lock in the 4-1 win for the Trojans over the Bruins. The victory improves Wang’s singles record to 17-7 overall and 6-3 in duals. 

Popovic (Zabok, Croatia) won twice in both singles and doubles in No. 9 Cal’s wins over two ranked opponents. Her week was highlighted by clinching doubles and the overall match against No. 21 Pepperdine, winning her doubles match with Cal junior Lynn Chi to secure the doubles point, then winning her singles match 6-1, 6-3 to clinch the dual match for her first time as a bear and improve her singles record to 31-6. Popovic also had wins in singles and doubles against No. 65 San Diego State earlier in the week. 

It marks the first-career weekly selections for both Wang and Popovic. USC now holds 43 men’s weekly honors all-time, while California picks up its 29th all-time women’s weekly honor. 

The USC men play in the Oracle Challenge in Indian Wells, Calif., this weekend and will play Tulsa in the opening round on Friday, Mar. 20. The Cal women travel to SoCal to play at UCLA on Friday, Mar. 20 and at USC on Saturday, Mar. 21. For more information, including a full schedule, visit www.pac-12.com.

Also Nominated
Men: Daan Maasland, ORE. 
Women: Lauren Marker, ARIZ; Desirae Krawczyk, ASU; Marlou Kluiving, ORE; Zoë Katz, USC. 

2015 PAC-12 TENNIS PLAYERS OF THE WEEK