UCLA men’s tennis celebrates Senior Day with 4-0 sweep of Pepperdine

This post was updated April 22 at 12:41 p.m.

In the wake of their first losing streak this season, the Bruins swept their way into the Pac-12 tournament.

No. 28 UCLA men’s tennis (12-5, 4-3 Pac-12) shut out No. 30 Pepperdine (13-6, 6-0 WCC) 4-0 on Senior Day to polish off its regular-season slate. The blue and gold had suffered consecutive losses to No. 23 Stanford (9-4, 6-1 Pac-12) and No. 15 USC (17-6, 5-2 Pac-12) to close out conference play, but took out the brooms against Pepperdine to get back in the win column. The Waves had not been blanked since their season opener Jan. 23.

The Bruins’ first step in the right direction was thanks to what coach Billy Martin deemed a season-best performance from the top-court duo of sophomore Drew Baird and junior Govind Nanda. The No. 68 doubles team in the nation double-breaked their way to a 6-2 victory over Guy Den Ouden and Adrian Oetzbach on court one. Senior Bryce Pereira and junior Patrick Zahraj backed that up by triumphing 6-4 against Corrado Summaria and Tim Zeitvogel on court two, putting UCLA out in front early.

The Bruins have posted a 10-6 record in doubles point opportunities this season and will enter the Pac-12 tournament with five consecutive doubles points in tow.

Martin said he had been looking to insert Zahraj back into the doubles lineup, and by converting the clinching opportunity against Pepperdine, Zahraj secured his first doubles win in nearly two months.

“We always anticipated wanting to get Patrick back in the doubles,” Martin said. “He’s been a person in our doubles lineup for the past two years. He’s too good of a doubles player to not get in there.”

Much of early singles play consisted of single-point affairs, with matches on courts three, four and six all requiring tiebreakers to decide the first set. Graduate transfer Sam Feit and junior Roscoe Bellamy both prevailed, each winning their first sets 7-6 (7-3) over Summaria and Robert Shelton on courts four and six, respectively. Redshirt senior Ben Goldberg’s tiebreaker with Daniel De Jonge presented a busier scoreline, as Goldberg fell short in a 14-16 battle.

Goldberg said his teammates’ efforts reflected mental toughness and acknowledged the importance of those tiebreaker victories.

“It shows that we’re strong with our minds,” Goldberg said. ”Getting those flips the momentum. If they got a couple more, then they’re really feeling good about it so that was key for the scoreboard today.”

The first singles result of the day was courtesy of Nanda, as he upended Den Ouden 6-2, 6-4 on court one and expanded the Bruins’ lead to 2-0.

The tally became even more lopsided when Bellamy defeated Shelton 7-6 ( 7-3), 6-4 on court six. Feit then replicated the score in his 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 victory over Summaria, claiming the match for UCLA.

Upon the completion of his first regular season with the Bruins, Feit said the bond between his teammates separates them from their conference foes as they gear up for the Pac-12 tournament.

“Aside from our talent, I think we’re a really close group of guys,” Feit said. “We’re really working together, battling through every single day, every challenge and coming together.”

The Bruins were without their highest-ranked singles player, senior Keegan Smith, who missed his second straight match because of an undisclosed injury and has no timetable provided for his return.

UCLA’s regular-season finale was capped by the senior festivities unfolding on the front courts at LATC. Six graduating players were celebrated, including Goldberg, Pereira, Smith, Lucas Bellamy, Connor Hance and Connor Rapp.

Martin reflected on what this group of players has meant to him.

“It’s just been a pleasure to know them, to work with them on a somewhat daily basis nine months out of the year and to be striving for the same things each and every year with them,” Martin said. “Just really good quality kids and ones that I’m going to be really interested in following after their years here and knowing what they’re doing and how successful they’re becoming in other ventures in their lives.”

Having played his final match in Westwood, Goldberg said he was emotional but knows the journey is not over.

“Very emotional day, and it has hit me,” Goldberg said. “I enjoyed myself on the court, but I was really enjoying the moment. We’re not done yet though, still more to play.”