Men's Tennis Suffers 4-2 Loss to No. 3 TCU

LOS ANGELES – The No. 46 UCLA men's tennis team fell short against No. 3 TCU Thursday afternoon, suffering a 4-2 loss at Los Angeles Tennis Center.

The match represents the non-conference finale for the Bruins (4-7), who knotted the contest at 2-2 but ultimately saw Pedro Vives clinch the result. Karl Lee was attempting to force a third set when the deciding match went final by way of tiebreaker. Patrick Zahraj of UCLA was up a set on the unfinished court. Alexander Hoogmartens and Giacomo Revelli posted singles wins for the Bruins. The Horned Frogs improved to 14-2 with the win.

TCU collected the day's first point without a loss in doubles play. The nation's fourth-ranked pair of Sander Jong and Lui Maxted bested No. 53 Zahraj and Bryce Pereira on the second court, 6-1, for the advantage. Vives and Juan Carlos Aguilar turned in the clincher, 6-2 versus Lee and Revelli on Court 3.

No. 12 Aguilar doubled the Horned Frogs' lead with a 6-2, 6-1 victory against Drew Baird on Court 1 to start singles play. Momentum would shift toward UCLA soon after, though, as the hosts picked up a pair of wins.

First off was Revelli, who downed a nationally-ranked opponent for the first time in his college career. His 6-3, 6-4 triumph over No. 49 Jake Fearnley on Court 4 cut the deficit in half.

No. 77 Hoogmartens followed Revelli's best win of the season by ranking with his own, as he took down No 14 Luc Fomba on Court 2, 6-2, 6-2, to pull the Bruins even. Hoogmartens has now won four singles decisions in a row.

No. 73 Maxted helped TCU regain the lead on Court 6, where he defeated Stefan Leustian by a 6-3, 6-4 score.

No. 105 Zahraj took his first set with No. 89 Jong on Court 3 by way of a 7-1 tiebreaker, but the match was abandoned when Vives secured the fourth point. Lee held a 6-4 advantage in the Court 5 tiebreaker, but Vives rallied to take five of the next six points to seal it with a 6-4, 7-6(7) victory.

UCLA will open Pac-12 play Friday, March 18, when No. 18 Arizona visits LATC for a 3 p.m. start. On Sunday, March 20, Arizona State drops in for a 12 p.m. first serve.

Tennis Match Results
TCU vs UCLA
3/10/2022 at Los Angeles, CA
(Los Angeles Tennis Center)

#3 TCU 4, #46 UCLA 2

Singles competition
1. #12 Juan Carlos Aguilar (TCU) def. Drew Baird (UCLA) 6-2, 6-1
2. #77 A. Hoogmartens (UCLA) def. #14 Luc Fomba (TCU) 6-2, 6-2
3. #105 Patrick Zahraj (UCLA) vs. #89 Sander Jong (TCU) 7-6 (7-1), 3-4, unfinished
4. Giacomo Revelli (UCLA) def. #49 Jake Fearnley (TCU) 6-3, 6-4
5. Pedro Vives (TCU) def. Karl Lee (UCLA) 6-4, 7-6 (9-7)
6. #73 Lui Maxted (TCU) def. Stefan Leustian (UCLA) 6-3, 6-4

Doubles competition
1. Drew Baird/A. Hoogmartens (UCLA) vs. #6 Jake Fearnley/Luc Fomba (TCU) 3-5, unfinished
2. #4 Sander Jong/Lui Maxted (TCU) def. #53 Bryce Pereira/Patrick Zahraj (UCLA) 6-1
3. Juan Carlos Aguilar/Pedro Vives (TCU) def. Karl Lee/Giacomo Revelli (UCLA) 6-2

Match Notes:
TCU 14-2; National ranking #3
UCLA 4-7; National ranking #46
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (1,4,2,6,5)