This post was updated May 1 at 11:11 a.m.
Sixty-four teams at the baseline.
All are swinging for a national championship.
UCLA men’s tennis (17-7, 10-3 Big Ten) will face Arizona State (17-10, 4-4 Big 12) to open its NCAA tournament campaign Friday in San Diego. The winner will face the victor of an in-state matchup between No. 15 seed San Diego (20-5, 6-1 WCC) and UC Santa Barbara (18-7, 5-1 Big West) on Saturday.
The Bruins suffered a 4-2 defeat to Michigan State in the second round of the Big Ten tournament, falling just short of a top-25 ranking heading into the NCAA tournament.
“We’ve had lots of tennis, so it’s not likewe’re going to be rusty or anything like that,” said coach Billy Martin after the squad’s conference tournament loss. “It’s just trying to make sure we’re healthy and ready to go.”
UCLA’s postseason run ended in the quarterfinal last year thanks to a Texas squad that had dropped just one conference game entering the matchup.
With No. 2 Texas and No. 7 LSU rounding out their quadrant, the Bruins – last season’s Big Ten tournament champions – will have the chance to write a different ending.
“Each and every one of us are confident in our games,” said senior Aadarsh Tripathi. “NCAA’s is going to prove that, and we can make a deep run.”
Their first test hails from Tempe, where the desert heat builds endurance.
Arizona State has tallied a trio of wins against then-No. 10 San Diego, then-No. 16 Clemson and Oklahoma State.
Sophomore Ofek Shimanov, who boasts a career-high 822 ATP singles ranking, spearheads the Sun Devils’ offensive scheme on court one.
The SMU transfer has defeated Central Florida’s No. 73 Yassine Dlimi and Princeton’s No. 98 Top Nidunjianzan.
Fresh off a four-game injury hiatus preceding the Big Ten tournament, junior Spencer Johnson will most likely face Shimanov on the top court. The junior struggled in Ojai, California, falling in straight sets to Michigan State’s No. 33 Aristotelis Thanos in the semifinal.
“I haven’t been playing a lot,” Johnson said. “We need to believe in ourselves a little more.”
Although the Sun Devils are 5-3 at home, they boast a 7-3 neutral site record, which may work in the Bruins’ favor as the matchup will be held in San Diego – just twohours away from the Los Angeles Tennis Center.
If the Bruins defeat the Sun Devils, they will face UC Santa Barbara or San Diego – a team the Bruins usurped 4-3 in their then-highest ranked win of the season.
With both teams carrying at least a .720 win percentage, competing at their highest level with minimal rest may become a point of emphasis for the Bruins.
The Bruins will have to execute on the baseline to force percentage-shot errors against players that rarely falter behind the service line.
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