Men's Tennis Blanks Saint Mary's to Start Dual-Match Season

LOS ANGELES – The UCLA men's tennis team began the dual-match portion of its 2021-22 schedule with an emphatic win Tuesday, defeating Saint Mary's by a 7-0 score at Los Angeles Tennis Center.

The Bruins dropped just one doubles match – a result that came after the opening point was already secured – on the day. Straight-set decisions across the singles courts included debut wins by freshmen Alexander Hoogmartens, Karl Lee and Giacomo Revelli. Senior Patrick Zahraj turned in the clinching victory.

The Gaels (0-2) collected breaks of serve on the first and third doubles courts to establish 3-1 advantages. In the middle, UCLA's combination of Revelli and Zahraj led wire to wire for a 6-3 triumph over Karlo Divkovic and Boris Reckow. Hoogmartens and Bryce Pereira swung momentum in their favor up top, ultimately taking the final five games and their own 6-3 win. On Court 3, Diego Jarry and Carlos Ramos Membrives of Saint Mary's held off Drew Baird and Max Wild for yet another 6-3 result.

With a point already in their back pocket, the Bruins jumped out to leads on a majority of the singles courts. Baird, Zahraj and Stefan Leustian were in back-and-forth battles, but managed to outlast their counterparts.

Meanwhile, in his first dual match, Karl Lee took the first 11 games from Felipe Rincon on Court 6 and eventually closed out the 6-0, 6-2 rout. No. 41 Hoogmartens followed soon after, handing Potts a 6-2, 6-3 loss on Court 2. Each of the freshmen picked up his sixth victory of the season – and first of his dual-match career – in the process.

Zahraj fought off Divkovic to take the first set, but settled in for the second. The Bruin would carve through the remaining games to clinch the overall win by a 7-5, 6-1 score.

The remaining matches continued to domino from there, starting with No. 96 Leustian's 6-4, 6-2 result against Ramos Membrives on Court 5. Baird needed a tiebreaker to take his opening set with Watt up top and rode that to a 7-6(5), 6-4 decision with one to play. The Gaels' Maxant mounted a second-set comeback on Court 4 to force a second-set tiebreaker with Revelli, who ensured a third would not be necessary. Revelli's 6-3, 7-6(3) victory made it a clean sweep.

UCLA returns to action Saturday for the start of ITA Kickoff Weekend at Texas A&M. The Bruins meet the host Aggies at 12 p.m. PT. A Sunday matchup with Arizona or Texas Tech will follow in College Station, Texas.

Tennis Match Results
Saint Mary's vs UCLA
1/25/2022 at Los Angeles, CA
(Los Angeles Tennis Center)

#25 UCLA 7, Saint Mary's 0

Singles competition
1. Drew Baird (UCLA) def. James Watt (SMC) 7-6 (7-5), 6-4
2. #41 A. Hoogmartens (UCLA) def. Caelan Potts (SMC) 6-2, 6-3
3. Patrick Zahraj (UCLA) def. Karlo Divkovic (SMC) 7-5, 6-1
4. Giacomo Revelli (UCLA) def. Thibaud Maxant (SMC) 6-3, 7-6 (7-3)
5. #96 Stefan Leustian (UCLA) def. C. Ramos Membrives (SMC) 6-4, 6-2
6. Karl Lee (UCLA) def. Felipe Rincon (SMC) 6-0, 6-2

Doubles competition
1. A. Hoogmartens/Bryce Pereira (UCLA) def. Caelan Potts/James Watt (SMC) 6-3
2. Giacomo Revelli/Patrick Zahraj (UCLA) def. Karlo Divkovic/Boris Reckow (SMC) 6-3
3. Diego Jarry/C. Ramos Membrives (SMC) def. Drew Baird/Max Wild (UCLA) 6-3

Match Notes:
Saint Mary's 0-2
UCLA 1-0; National ranking #25
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (6,2,3,5,1,4)