Men’s tennis

Kai Dizon, Assistant Sport editor

Ohayō Ohio and goodbye to Ojai.

After 72 years of competing in the Pac-12 Tournament at The Ojai Tennis Tournament’s Libbey Park in Ojai, California, No. 2 seed UCLA men’s tennis (13-8, 11-2 Big Ten) will head to No. 1 seed Ohio State’s (24-2, 13-0) Auer Tennis Complex in Columbus, Ohio, for its inaugural Big Ten tournament, which begins Thursday and concludes Sunday.

“Nothing changes in our preparation,” said freshman Kaylan Bigun, who hasn’t lost a singles match since April 11. “We try to bring high standards to every match.”

As a top-four seed, UCLA earned a first-round bye and will face either No. 7 seed Michigan (14-11, 8-5) or No. 10 seed Northwestern (12-16, 4-9) in Friday’s quarterfinals.

If it advances to Saturday’s semifinals, UCLA will battle the victor of the quarterfinal between No. 3 seed Michigan State (15-8, 10-3) and No. 6 seed USC (14-9, 8-5).

And, finally, if the Bruins make the title match, they could face the Buckeyes on their home court.

After a 2-6 start to the season, UCLA finished the remainder of its regular season schedule 11-2 – coincidentally, its Big Ten slate. And that entire run was without No. 32 sophomore Spencer Johnson, arguably the Bruins’ best player, at full strength after an elbow injury sidelined the sophomore from Feb. 2 to April 11.

“We finished second without our top player,” said coach Billy Martin. “It’s a hell of an accomplishment for our team.”

In conference play, UCLA has claimed 11-of-13 doubles points, with Martin often running out seniors Giacomo Revelli and Alexander Hoogmartens on court one, freshman Rudy Quan and junior Aadarsh Tripathi on court two and junior Gianluca Ballotta and redshirt sophomore Emon van Loben Sels on court three.

However, with the return of Johnson to doubles, the sophomore has recently replaced Quan on court two.

Winners of their last five, the Bruins’ only two losses came against the Trojans 4-3, a potential semifinals opponent, and the Buckeyes 4-0, the hosts and tournament favorites.

“Our message is always that we’re going to keep getting better,” Martin said. “The guys that are healthy and the guys that aren’t healthy hopefully get healthy and hopefully be the best at the end of the year where we need to be.”

No. 21 Quan, a three-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week, earned a career-high singles ranking Wednesday and is undefeated in his last six singles matches, having played exclusively on court one since Feb. 1.

“We definitely have the talent to go deep in this tournament,” Quan said.

Despite rounding out the regular season with a sweep of Wisconsin and 4-1 victory over Nebraska, UCLA fell from No. 21 to No. 22 between April 15 and April 22’s rankings, meaning a strong performance is necessary for the team if they want to improve to a top-16 ranking and a chance at hosting the first two rounds of the upcoming NCAA tournament, beginning May 3, in Westwood.

Women’s tennis
Lori Garavartanian, Daily Bruin contributor

Urbana, Illinois – the sole neutral site the Bruins have played at all season and the reason for the Bruins’ losing record at neutral locations.

No. 4 seed UCLA women’s tennis (15-7, 10-3 Big Ten) will play at its second neutral site of the season, Libbey Park in Ojai, California, on Friday as it faces either No. 5 seed Wisconsin (17-4, 10-3) or No. 12 seed Penn State (14-9, 5-8) in the second round of the Big Ten championships. The Bruins earned a first-round bye after finishing within the top four of the conference standings.

However, one might call Ojai – the site of the Pac-12 tournament from 1987 till 2024 – a home away from home for the Bruins. While UCLA won the Pac-12 tournament five times – and were even the Pac-12 regular season champions last season – it hasn’t raised the conference tournament trophy since 2015 and fell to California in the semifinals last season.

“Ojai is really special,” said coach Stella Sampras Webster. “To be able to go back one more time is really special, and I hope we take advantage of it.”

And with the Bruins’ longstanding ties to Ojai, five current Bruins have already participated in a collegiate tournament at the venue. This time last year, many believed they’d never get the chance to compete there again after the program’s move to a new conference.

“Thankful that we don’t have to go to Timbuktu to play Big Ten,” said No. 66 senior Elise Wagle. “We’re ready. We’re in familiar territory.”

UCLA, once 6-7 overall and 2-3 in conference play, heads to Libbey Park on an eight-match win streak – its longest of the season.

Coincidentally, that streak began with a 4-0 sweep of Penn State March 30 and a 4-3 win over then-No. 19 Wisconsin on April 5 – the two opponents UCLA could face come Thursday.

If UCLA advances to the quarterfinals, it’ll likely face No. 1 seed Michigan, who went 13-0 in conference play this year – and handed the Bruins their only loss at the Los Angeles Tennis Center this season, 4-1 on March 22.

And a trip to the title game could bring UCLA face-to-face with No. 2 seed Ohio State, who beat the Bruins 4-1 March 28 just before the team’s win streak.

But given Ojai’s sentimental value to the Bruins, neither the Wolverines nor the Buckeyes may truly comprehend what’s at stake.

“I chose a Pac-12 school because I wanted to play in the Ojai tournament,” said No. 84 senior Kimmi Hance. “It’s really special that I get to have that one last Ojai moment. Hopefully, we can come out with the title.”