Johnson Leads Pac-12 Men's Tennis Honorees
SAN RAMON, Calif. – Spencer Johnson of the UCLA men's tennis team was named Pac-12 Freshman/Newcomer of the Year Thursday by the conference. The freshman was also one of three Bruins who received All-Conference recognition.
Johnson became the sixth UCLA men's tennis player to earn the newcomer award and first since Keegan Smith in 2018. Johnson and redshirt senior Govind Nanda were voted onto the All-Conference first team, while junior Alexander Hoogmartens made the second team.
Johnson leads the Bruins with a 23-6 singles record, as well as a 21-8 doubles mark. He was a perfect 4-0 in Pac-12 singles play, with each of those decisions made on Court 2. Johnson has been the last man standing in 4-3 wins at Pepperdine (Feb. 18) and against No. 10 Harvard. He also knocked off No. 47 Samir Banerjee of 19th-ranked Stanford 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(3) for the tying third point of another 4-3 victory (April 12). That was Johnson's fifth ranked singles win in as many chances. He is 6-2 in those chances overall. On the doubles sides, Johnson and Emon van Loben Sels have taken over the top spot in the lineup and currently possess a 17-5 record. The pair has clinched five doubles points.
Joining Johnson on the first team is Nanda, who has held down the top singles spot in each match he has played. As a result, he has collected four victories versus nationally-ranked singles players. Among those are top-20 decisions over No. 18 Tyler Zink at Oklahoma State (Jan. 30) and No. 3 Murphy Cassone of Arizona State (March 22). Nanda has held a top-30 ITA singles ranking in seven of the past eight installments, including a No. 22 showing April 2. He has also amassed a team-high 15 dual-match doubles victories and holds a 17-5 overall doubles mark. Nanda and Hoogmartens have formed an effective pairing, currently holding a nine-match winning streak. The combination has clinched six doubles points. Nanda was previously an All-Conference second-team member in 2019 and 2021.
Hoogmartens had a 4-0 singles record in regular-season conference play. He jumpstarted UCLA's comeback effort against No. 19 Stanford, beating Kyle Kang 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 to cut his team's 3-1 deficit in half. Hoogmartens also defeated Karl Lee 1-6, 7-5, 6-4 to seal a 4-1 road non-conference win versus crosstown rival USC (March 29). In doubles play, Hoogmartens has spent the entirety of his season alongside Nanda. The pair is 10-3 overall and 10-2 in dual-match action. Hoogmartens and Nanda have been on the last court standing six times and have come out on top of five of those matchups. Hoogmartens was an All-Conference first-team selection in 2022.