Men's Tennis Set to Open NCAA Play in Lone Star State

MATCH INFORMATION
Date/Time: Friday, May 3/8:00 AM PT
    Saturday, May 4/2:00 PM PT*
Live Stream: TexasSports.com
Live Stats: TexasSports.com
Series vs. LSU: UCLA leads 6-0
Last Meeting vs. LSU: UCLA won 4-2 on Feb. 16, 2006
* - if necessary

NCAA Tournament Appearances: 46th
Overall Won-Lost Record: 124-41
Appearances Unseeded: Third
Round of 16 Appearances (Last): 43 (2019)
Quarterfinal Round Appearances (Last): 39 (2018)
Semifinal Round Appearances (Last): 27 (2018)
Final Round Appearances (Last): 12 (2013)
NCAA Championships (Since 1977): 4 (1979, 1982, 1984, 2005)
NCAA Championships (Total): 16 (1950, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1956, 1960, 1961, 1965, 1970, 1971, 1975, 1976, 1979, 1982, 1984, 2005)

THIS WEEK
The UCLA men's tennis team starts NCAA Championships play Friday at the Texas Tennis Center in Austin, Texas. The Bruins (14-7) meet LSU (16-13) in first-round action, with first serve scheduled for 8 a.m. PT. The 11 a.m. contest features host and No. 2-seed Texas (22-3), which takes on Sacramento State (17-6). Winners clash Saturday at 2 p.m. for a spot in the super-regional round.

FOLLOW LIVE
Live video and point-by-point scoring from the Texas Tennis Center can be found at TexasSports.com.

UCLA IN THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
The UCLA men's tennis program has qualified for the NCAA Championships 46 times in 47 years since the tournament format was adopted. The Bruins have collected 16 NCAA team titles, including four since the changeover in 1977. They have also been one of the last 16 teams standing 43 times. UCLA holds a 124-41 record in NCAA play. UCLA is 2-0 against LSU in postseason play. In 1999, the Bruins earned a spot in the NCAA Championships final round by beating the Tigers 4-1 in Athens, Ga. LSU collected the doubles point, but UCLA answered by taking five singles first sets. Jason Cook, Jean-Noel Grinda, Brandon Kramer and Marcin Rozpedski were victorious in singles play.

NANDA EARNS SPOT IN NCAA SINGLES FIELD
Govind Nanda earned an at-large selection to the 2024 NCAA Championships singles tournament, the NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Subcommittee announced Tuesday. Nanda, who also made the 2019 field as an alternate, has held a spot in the ITA's singles rankings since the current year began. He has been in the top 32 since Feb. 20. Nanda's rise was aided by wins against No. 18 Tyler Zink of Oklahoma State 7-5, 6-1 Jan. 30 and No. 28 Edward Winter of Pepperdine 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 Feb. 18. Another marquee victory was added when the redshirt senior had a career-best performance, beating No. 3 Murphy Cassone of Arizona State 6-4, 6-2 March 22.

LAST TIME OUT
Third-seeded UCLA dropped a 4-1 decision to No. 6-seed Oregon in Pac-12 Championships quarterfinal-round play at Libbey Park, in Ojai Calif. The Bruins collected the doubles point, but were stopped in singles play. Vlad Breazu, Lenn Luemkemann, Quinn Vandecasteele and clincher Matthew Burton notched singles victories for the Ducks.

IN THE RANKINGS
UCLA checked in at No. 25 in the May 2 ITA team rankings Individually, Govind Nanda was slotted at No. 32. Nanda, who is 11-9 in singles action, has knocked off No. 3 Murphy Cassone of Arizona State 6-4, 6-2 March 22, No. 18 Tyler Zink of Oklahoma State 7-5, 6-1 Jan. 30 and No. 28 Edward Winter of Pepperdine 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 Feb. 18. Nanda is 9-8 in dual-match singles play, with each of the decisions made on Court 1. Spencer Johnson, meanwhile, found himself at No. 104. Johnson has racked up a team-high 23 singles wins, against just six losses (14-3 in dual-match play). He heads into NCAA play a winner of eight consecutive decisions. Of those eight victories, five have come versus nationally-ranked players. Johnson is 6-2 overall in matches with ranked singles counterparts.

JOHNSON VOTED PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK FOR APRIL 8-14
Spencer Johnson was voted Pac-12 Men's Tennis Player of the Week for the week of April 8-14, the conference announced April 16. The honor represents the freshman's first. Johnson knocked off No. 47 Samir Banerjee of Stanford in a third-set tiebreaker to help the Bruins beat 19th-ranked Stanford 4-3 at Los Angeles Tennis Center (April 12). UCLA at one point faced a 3-1 deficit, but pulled level when Johnson unleashed an ace past the 2021 Junior Wimbledon champion to complete his 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(3) win. Play would not have reached that stage if Johnson and partner Emon van Loben Sels had not provided the deciding doubles victory earlier that afternoon. With all eyes on its court, the Bruins outlasted No. 75 Banerjee and Nishesh Basavareddy 7-6(2).

NANDA NAMED PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK FOR JAN. 29-FEB. 4
Redshirt senior Govind Nanda was named Pac-12 Player of the Week for the week of Jan. 29-Feb. 4 after he had a hand in the Bruins' initial two points of their thrilling 4-3 victory at Oklahoma State (Jan. 30). Nanda and Alexander Hoogmartens dealt Leighton Allen and Erik Schiessl a 6-2 defeat on the third doubles court to put UCLA on the scoreboard first. Nanda then knocked off the nation's 18th-ranked singles player, Tyler Zink, 7-5, 6-1 on the top court to give his team a 2-1 lead. The Cowboys' loss was their first at Greenwood Tennis Center in four early-season matches. The third weekly honor of Nanda's career also marked his first since March 31, 2021. UCLA men's tennis has garnered 49 of the awards overall.

FALL RECAP
Bruins were in action at five tournaments before the new year. They wrapped up 2023 with a championship performance at Jack Kramer Club in Rolling Hills Estates, Calif, where freshmen and first-time partners Spencer Johnson and Emon van Loben Sels rolled to the Dennis Rizza Classic doubles title. Johnson and van Loben Sels beat the tournament's top three seeds – including No. 2-seed Kai Brady/Lucca Liu of UC Santa Barbara in the final – en route to the trophy. Johnson and van Loben Sels also turned in standout singles performances, with both reaching the semifinals. Johnson led UCLA with a 7-3 singles record and 6-3 doubles mark during the fall. Just behind him in both categories was van Loben Sels, who was 5-3 in singles matches and 4-1 in doubles play. Aadarsh Tripathi logged three singles wins, advancing to the quarterfinal round of the ITA Southwest Regional Championships.

BRUINS ON TOUR
Former UCLA standouts continue to be household names in the professional ranks, with Maxime Cressy, Marcos Giron, Mackenzie McDonald and Jean-Julien Rojer turning in notable results across the Grand Slams and on the ATP Tour. Cressy picked up his first ATP Tour championship and saw his singles ranking reach a career-best No. 31 when he beat Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan at the 2022 Hall of Fame Open in Newport, R.I. An ATP doubles title followed for Cressy in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where he teamed with Fabrice Martin to take the 2023 Dubai Open's top prize. Giron reached the Roland-Garros singles third round for the second time in 2023. He also earned top-10 wins against Holger Rune of Denmark and Casper Ruud of Norway in subsequent 2023 tournaments. Giron is off to a hot start in 2024, reaching the Dallas Open singles final and a career-high singles ranking of 44 (Feb. 19). His run included straight-set victories opposite No. 14 Frances Tiafoe of the United States and No. 17 Adrian Mannarino of France. McDonald, who opened 2023 by beating top seed and defending champion Rafael Nadal in three sets at the Australian Open, represented the United States at the Davis Cup Finals in Uzbekistan and achieved a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 37 the same year. Rojer collected his fourth Grand Slam title at Roland-Garros in 2022, teaming with Marcelo Arevalo to defeat Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek in the final. Rojer and Arevalo won three ATP championships in 2023. Cressy (No. 178), Giron (51) and McDonald (76) are currently ranked among the ATP's top 200 singles players. Rojer is 20th on the doubles list.

MORE MARTIN MILESTONES
Head coach Billy Martin is in his 31st year at the helm of the UCLA men's tennis program and this season marks his 41st since joining the staff of friend, mentor and fellow UCLA Athletic Hall of Famer Glenn Bassett. Martin, who passed Bassett to became the program's all-time leader in head-coaching wins during the 2019 season, is the longest-tenured active coach at UCLA. He holds a career record of 656-164 (.799) as head coach. Martin guided the 2005 Bruins to the program's 16th NCAA team title and just six of his squads have finished outside the top five at the season-ending NCAA Championships. Benjamin Kohlloeffel (2006), Marcos Giron (2014) and Mackenzie McDonald (2016) have earned NCAA singles titles on Martin's watch, while UCLA has become a frequent landing spot for doubles champions of late. In addition to 1996 winners Justin Gimelstob and Srdjan Muskatirovic, three of the most recent six titleholders – McDonald/Martin Redlicki in 2016, Redlicki/Evan Zhu in 2018 and Maxime Cressy/Keegan Smith in 2019 – have called Westwood home.