Women's Tennis Closes Out Road Slate in Desert
MATCH INFORMATION
Date/Time: Friday, April 2/1:30 PM PT
Saturday, April 3/11:00 AM PT
Live Stream/Live Stats (Friday): TheSunDevils.com
Live Stream/Live Stats (Saturday): ArizonaWildcats.com
Series vs. Arizona State: UCLA leads, 59-18
Series vs. Arizona: UCLA leads, 67-8
Last Meeting vs. ASU: UCLA won 4-2 on March 8, 2019
Last Meeting vs. Arizona: UCLA won 4-0 on April 25, 2019
THIS WEEK
The UCLA women's tennis team is set to close out the road portion of its regular-season schedule in the desert, where it will face Pac-12 foes Arizona State and Arizona. The trip starts Friday at Whiteman Tennis Center, where the Bruins (11-3, 5-0 Pac-12) will meet the Sun Devils (10-5, 3-2) at 1:30 p.m., PT. UCLA and ASU are each 3-0 against common conference opponents Oregon, Washington and Washington State. The Bruins will play the second of back-to-back matches Saturday at LaNelle Robson Tennis Center, where the Wildcats have won two in a row. First serve for that one is set for 11 a.m., PT.
FOLLOW LIVE
Live video, as well as up-to-the-minute results, from the desert dual matches will be available at TheSunDevils.com and ArizonaWildcats.com.
Fans are not permitted to attend events at UCLA Athletics venues, including Los Angeles Tennis Center, in adherence to the latest COVID-19 guidelines set by the state of California and Los Angeles County. Live streaming and live scoring for all home UCLA women's tennis matches will be available HERE.
UCLA VS. ASU/ARIZONA
UCLA women's tennis holds all-time records of 59-18 versus Arizona State and 67-8 against Arizona. The Bruins dropped the doubles point in their last meeting with the Sun Devils March 8, 2019, but bounced back to earn a 4-2 victory at Whiteman Tennis Center. Alaina Miller picked up the clinching point for UCLA with a three-set triumph on Court 5. Prior to that, Abi Altick, Ayan Broomfield and Jada Hart prevailed in singles play. Lauryn John-Baptiste turned in the lone singles win for Arizona State. The Bruins most recently faced off with the Wildcats in the quarterfinal round of the 2019 Pac-12 Championships, earning a 4-0 win at Weil Tennis Academy in Ojai, Calif. UCLA did not drop a set on the day, with Hart responsible for the decider on the top court. Gabby Andrews and Elysia Bolton also turned in singles victories to keep momentum on the side of the Bruins, who set the tone in doubles play.
LAST TIME OUT
UCLA rebounded from dropping the doubles point to defeat Oregon, 4-1, in a March 28 Pac-12 contest at Oregon's Student Tennis Center. Vivian Wolff earned her second clinching win in as many matches for the Bruins, who also received singles victories from Abbey Forbes, Annette Goulak and Jada Hart. Each prevailed in straight sets. The Ducks suffered their first home loss of the season.
IN THE RANKINGS
The UCLA women's tennis team remained slotted at No. 4 in the Tennis Channel/USTA Top 25, it was announced Wednesday. The Bruins are No. 10 in the latest Oracle ITA team rankings, released Tuesday. The newest Oracle ITA player rankings, also revealed Tuesday, include Elysia Bolton, Abbey Forbes and Jada Hart of UCLA. Forbes is the No. 11 singles player, while Bolton checks in at No. 113 and Hart sits in a tie at No. 121. Forbes and Hart also appear on the doubles list, making up the No. 79 combination.
SHE'S NOT. DONE. YET!
In a letter to the UCLA community April 23, 2020, Jada Hart announced she would take advantage of an additional year of eligibility provided by the NCAA after the coronavirus pandemic-shortened 2019-20 season. Hart said, "Knowing I was going to get an extra year to end my UCLA career on my terms was an opportunity I could not pass up ... I'm very blessed to get one more year to wear the blue and gold and be surrounded by an amazing team that I get to call MY FAMILY." On March 19, she earned career win No. 200 alongside doubles partner Abbey Forbes. Hart holds a career singles record of 89-39 and currently sits in a tie for 13th place, with Jane Chi, on the program's career wins list (since 1991). On the doubles side, she possesses a record of 113-37 and captured the 2019 Oracle ITA Fall National Championships doubles title with partner Elysia Bolton. Hart has a chance to become the ninth four-time All-American in UCLA women's tennis history.
FORBES 100
Ten of Abbey Forbes' 12 singles opponents in 2021 have been slotted in the top 100 of the Oracle ITA singles rankings when the meetings occurred. Forbes, who is listed at No. 11 in the rankings, is 9-1 in those matches and 11-1 overall. She is 4-0 against top-20 foes, knocking off then-No. 1 Ashley Lahey of Pepperdine, then-No. 5 Anna Turati of Texas and then-No. 18 Haley Giavara of California on two occasions. All four of those matches, as well as six other Forbes wins, were finished in straight sets. Her only loss of the season came against then-No. 33 Jessica Failla of Pepperdine, 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-4, at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Stillwater, Okla.
FORBES JOINS BOLTON, HART IN POTW CLUB
One season removed from collecting five of eight Pac-12 Player of the Week awards, UCLA student-athletes have received three conference honors in 2021. Elysia Bolton, who was on court for the first and final points of the Bruins' ITA Kickoff Weekend win over Texas A&M, received the third of her career. Jada Hart brought in the sixth of her time at UCLA after a trip to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships that included singles wins over then-No. 94 Lulu Sun of Texas and then-No. 45 Lexi Ryngler of Pepperdine. Most recently, Abbey Forbes earned her second-career POTW nod after knocking off the nation's then-No. 1 player, Ashley Lahey of Pepperdine, in the Bruins' 4-3 loss to the Waves. UCLA women's tennis has garnered 33 Pac-12 Player of the Week awards in program history.
NEWCOMERS
Freshman Vanessa Ong and University of Georgia transfer Vivian Wolff join the Bruins in 2020-21. Hailing from Oklahoma City, Ong was a Blue-Chip prospect who ranked as high as No. 2 in her class, according to TennisRecruiting.net. Ong earned a berth into the 2016 US Open junior tournament, where she won three singles matches before falling to current WTA No. 8 Bianca Andreescu of Canada on the Grandstand court. Ong reached the quarterfinal rounds of the Eddie Herr Girls' 18 doubles and Orange Bowl Girls' 18 singles draws, respectively, in 2017. She went on to earn trips to the 2018 Easter Bowl Girls' 18 doubles semifinal round and the 2018 USTA International Spring Championships Girls' 18 singles quarters. Ong was a standout performer at the 2018 USTA Billie Jean King National Championships, registering quarterfinal-round showings in the Girls' 18 singles and doubles draws. Wolff, a senior, moves to the West Coast after achieving All-America status with partner Elena Christofi for their performance during the 2019 fall season. Georgia registered a national runner-up finish in 2019 and Wolff proved a major part on the fourth singles court. The then-sophomore went 32-3, including a 24-1 showing in dual matches. Wolff won her final 20 singles decisions on the year and garnered First-Team All-SEC recognition.
BRUINS IN THE PROS
A bevy of Bruins is active on the professional circuits, with Jennifer Brady (2014, 2015) and Ena Shibahara (2017, 2018) currently building off breakout 2020 campaigns. Brady climbed to a career-best No. 13 in the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) singles rankings on Feb. 22. That was achieved in large part due to her performances at the 2020 US Open and, most recently, the 2021 Australian Open. The ranking also represents the best-ever showing by a Bruin. Brady advanced to the singles final round at the Australian Open, surpassing her semifinal-round showing at the US Open just months earlier. Brady also captured the first WTA title of her career in the singles draw of the 2020 Top Seed Open in Lexington, Ky. Shibahara, meanwhile, has attained much of her success in doubles play. Alongside regular partner Shuko Aoyama, Shibahara claimed the top spots at the Abu Dhabi Open and the Yarra Valley Classic events early this year. The titles marked the fourth and fifth on the WTA Tour for Shibahara/Aoyama. Shibahara reached a career-high No. 15 in the WTA doubles rankings on Feb. 22.
HEAD COACH STELLA SAMPRAS WEBSTER
Head coach Stella Sampras Webster is in her 25th season at the helm of the UCLA women's tennis program, compiling an impressive overall record of 464-169 (.733). She is the second-longest-tenured active coach at UCLA, behind men's tennis head coach Billy Martin. Sampras Webster has guided her alma mater to NCAA championships in 2008 and 2014, the first two in program history. Her teams have finished top-10 nationally in 20 of her 23 completed seasons and in the top five 14 times. Three doubles pairs have won NCAA titles under Sampras Webster's tutelage, most recently Gabby Andrews and Ayan Broomfield in 2019.