This post was updated Jan. 19 at 11:15 p.m.

The boxing ring spanned 2,106 square feet Saturday – save for doubles, when it was 2,808 square feet.

It ended a lopsided affair.

A fight with a bloody nose and a defector.

A battle where the victor ended up on the ground and the loser was left standing.

A duel with a bruiser who had been waiting for a year.

When Cassius Chinlund finally let go, emotion hit him like a tidal wave.

The redshirt freshman’s combative expression turned to joy. His yells were no longer about momentum, but achievement.

First he tossed his racket. Then came his hat. And finally, himself.

Laying on his back with his arms pointed towards the sky, Chinlund, his shirt well darkened by sweat, provided No. 12 UCLA men’s tennis (1-0) the clincher in what would end up a 7-0 sweep of UC Irvine (0-1) at the Los Angeles Tennis Center in both teams’ season opener.

“Given that I redshirted last year, coming out of high school a little early, it definitely felt good,” Chinlund said. “I’m not gonna lie, playing (court) six and winning – clinching the match – that’s an unforgettable feeling first time out.”

In his first taste of dual-match action, Chinlund said he found himself down 4-1 in his first set before stabilizing en route to a 7-5, 6-3 sweep over Greg Gamal.

After sitting out the 2024-25 season that saw the Bruins clinch a Big Ten tournament title and reach the NCAA tournament’s quarterfinal, Chinlund said he learned Friday afternoon he’d finally make the regular season lineup.

Ensuite, the former blue-chip recruit may have been the loudest on campus Saturday, both providing and asking the crowd and his teammates for energy.

“Some people think I’m over the top, and some people think I’m great and they love my energy,” Chinlund said. “There were times today where I feel like I had to reel it back. … But I feel like that (being loud) focuses me even more – it locks me in.”

With Chinlund breaking the singles lineup, senior Aadarsh Tripathi – who played in 240 singles matches last season – became the odd man out.

However, coach Billy Martin said he made the decision to get Chinlund some experience, knowing he won’t have to worry about one of his most veteran players.

Tripathi, instead, found himself back on doubles court two with sophomore Rudy Quan. The duo played seven doubles sets in 2025, but went 3-3 before Tripathi was paired with junior Spencer Johnson for the final 10 matches.

“Aadarsh is a great friend and great teammate,” Quan said. “I live nine minutes away from him now. It’s great to be back in the doubles lineup. Just going to do whatever it takes to help the team.”

The No. 47 duo beat Rohan Sachdev and Hiroki Sakagawa 6-2 to clinch UCLA the doubles point after No. 19 Johnson and redshirt junior Emon van Loben Sels defeated Max Fardanesh and Tal Goodman 6-1.

No. 53 Quan, despite playing at least part of the match with his right nostril packed – eventually ending the affair with remnants of dried blood on his face – tallied UCLA’s first singles win 6-2, 6-2 over Tal Goodman on court two.

It was Johnson and van Loben Sels’ 40th doubles set together – having played 28 in 2024 and 11 in 2025 before Johnson got injured.

And although both ultimately won their respective singles matches – No. 75 Johnson 4-6, 7-6(1), 1-0(5) over Hiroki Sakagawa and No. 20 van Loben Sels 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 against Max Fardanesh – Martin was critical of the two upperclassmen’s performance.

“My two really experienced guys, Emon and Spencer, just did not play well,” Martin said. “Just so many unforced errors (by Johnson), especially off return to serve. It was sort of befuddling him and me. And after a while, you don’t know what to say as a coach sometimes.”

The coach added that he doesn’t expect similar slow starts from Johnson or van Loben Sels, adding that both, along with Quan, are all skilled enough to play court one.

However, the player Martin was most complimentary of was on court five – senior Gianluca Ballotta. The Lima, Peru, local, who went 3-2 in dual matches last season, defeated Ruining Huang 6-1, 6-2.

“I really like what I’ve seen from GL (Ballotta),” Martin said. “(He) really seems a lot more focused this year and working harder. … He was a real spark plug for us last year, especially at third doubles.”

While Ballotta didn’t get to finish his doubles set, he was partnered with junior Andy Nguyen, who transferred from Irvine over the summer.

While Nguyen was often the Anteater’s court two singles player and part of the court one doubles tandem, he found himself on courts five and three, respectively.

The back-to-back All-Big West singles honoree held on for a 7-6(5), 1-6, 1-0(11) win over Sohrob Amiryavari.

“Andy, I recruited to come in as a freshman,” Martin said. “He’s really good friends with Aadarsh and Emon. … When he went on the portal, I said, ‘There’s a young man I think we’d really enjoy having on the team.’”

By the end of the afternoon, UCLA’s longest-tenured active head coach began his 33rd season at the helm with a step in the right direction.

“All in all,” Martin said. “It was certainly not one of my worst opening matches by any means.”