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Men's Tennis Overcomes Oregon, 5-2

Apr 2, 2021
Drew Baird (Photo: Ross Turteltaub)

LOS ANGELES – For the fourth time in its last six matches, the No. 19/36 UCLA men's tennis team bounced back from a lost doubles point to secure the overall win, knocking off No. 49 Oregon by a 5-2 score Friday afternoon at Los Angeles Tennis Center.

The Bruins (9-3, 3-1 Pac-12) ran off five singles wins in a row to answer their early deficit emphatically. Drew Baird clinched the comeback victory. The Ducks (13-3, 1-3) picked up the first and last points of the match, with Jesper Klöv-Nilsson responsible for their lone favorable singles decision.

In a top-court doubles showdown between top-75 opponents, No. 70 Joshua Charlton and Quinn Vandecasteele set the tone for Oregon with a 6-3 triumph over No. 75 Bryce Pereira and Keegan Smith. UCLA answered back on Court 3, where Roscoe Bellamy and Mathew Tsolakyan picked up their second win in as many matches, 6-4 over Brandon Lam and Ryoma Matsushita. Klöv-Nilsson and Emmanuel Coste ultimately claimed the doubles point for Oregon on Court 2, closing out Baird and Govind Nanda with a break of serve for a 6-4 result.

The Bruins secured five of six singles first sets, with Smith and Tsolakyan each collecting his by way of a tiebreaker. A flurry of wins followed.

First off was Sam Feit of UCLA on Court 5, where the graduate student dispatched of Lam with relative ease, 6-2, 6-3. The win marks three in four decisions for Feit.

In the lone matchup of ranked opponents and a faceoff of the last two Pac-12 Player of the Week, Nanda handled No. 91 Emmanuel Coste by a 6-2, 6-2 margin to avenge the earlier doubles loss.

Tsolakyan got back in the win column on Court 6, turning in a pair of drastically different sets to fend off Luke Vandecasteele, 7-6(1), 6-0. Tsolakyan, who suffered a three-set loss at Arizona March 28, has now won 15 of his last 16 singles decisions dating back to last season.

No. 81 Baird continued the Bruins' winning ways on Court 3, where he posted a pair of 6-4 sets to finish off Quinn Vandecasteele and tally his second clinching victory of the campaign.

Like Tsolakyan, No. 48 Smith posted a convincing second-set performance after narrowly taking the first. Smith's 7-6(6), 6-1 performance against Joshua Charlton made the score 5-1 and improved the San Diego native's singles record to 10-2.

Finally, on Court 4, Klöv-Nilsson held off Ben Goldberg with a 6-1, 7-5 result to get the Ducks on the board in singles play.

UCLA returns to action Saturday, when Washington visits LATC for a 1 p.m., PT start.

Tennis Match Results
Oregon vs UCLA
4/2/2021 at Los Angeles, CA
(Los Angeles Tennis Center)

#36 UCLA 5, #49 Oregon 2

Singles competition
1. #48 Keegan Smith (UCLA) def. Joshua Charlton (ORE) 7-6 (8-6), 6-1
2. #116 Govind Nanda (UCLA) def. #91 Emmanuel Coste (ORE) 6-2, 6-2
3. #81 Drew Baird (UCLA) def. Quinn Vandecasteele (ORE) 6-4, 6-4
4. Jesper Klöv-Nilsson (ORE) def. Ben Goldberg (UCLA) 6-1, 7-5
5. Sam Feit (UCLA) def. Brandon Lam (ORE) 6-2, 6-3
6. Mathew Tsolakyan (UCLA) def. Luke Vandecasteele (ORE) 7-6 (7-1), 6-0

Doubles competition
1. #70 Joshua Charlton/Quinn Vandecasteele (ORE) def. #75 Bryce Pereira/Keegan Smith (UCLA) 6-3
2. Emmanuel Coste/Jesper Klöv-Nilsson (ORE) def. Drew Baird/Govind Nanda (UCLA) 6-4
3. Roscoe Bellamy/Mathew Tsolakyan (UCLA) def. Brandon Lam/Ryoma Matsushita (ORE) 6-4

Match Notes:
Oregon 13-3; National ranking #49
UCLA 9-3; National ranking #36
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (5,2,6,3,1,4)