All eyes were on Cassius Chinlund as he sat on the bench of court six.

The redshirt freshman’s leg got massaged as the match came down to a deciding third set between Chinlund and Niels Hoffmann. Both teams stood beside the ongoing match with bated breath.

Fifteen minutes later, athletes in cardinal and gold ran across the court to celebrate their teammate as students in the stands began to cheer, “Southern California beat UCLA!”

And they did.

At the ring of the final bell, No. 22 UCLA men’s tennis (5-3, 0-1 Big Ten) fell 4-3 to No. 14 USC (8-3, 1-0) at David X. Marks Tennis Stadium Saturday afternoon.

The defeat marks UCLA’s first since Jan. 31 against then-No. 3 Stanford and its third defeat by USC in regular-season matchups since the 2023-24 season.

The Bruins began their day by conceding the doubles point.

Junior Spencer Johnson and senior Aadarsh Tripathi fell to No. 39 Andrin Casanova and Jack McCarthy 6-4. Following the loss, freshman Bengt Reinhard and sophomore Rudy Quan were defeated by Max Exsted and Nathan Trouve, handing the Trojans a 1-0 lead.

“I didn’t feel we looked ready to play,” said coach Billy Martin. “People are yelling a few things – this and that – it’s part of maturity, but we did not look really ready to go. In my opinion, I was very unhappy with the doubles.”

As the stands continued to swell with noise from Trojan spectators, the Bruins began to find their footing in singles.

No. 26 junior Emon van Loben Sels delivered the first victory in straight sets against McCarthy on court three. The win marked van Loben Sels’ second straight-set victory and fourth win of the dual meet season.

Van Loben Sels said that the energy from a predominantly Trojan crowd only fueled his play.

“I like coming to SC and playing at their place more than I like playing in ours,” van Loben Sels said. “I love how into it the crowd is and I love the heckling, the trash talk they give us – it’s more enjoyable for me when the crowd’s against me – because the win feels better that way.”

No. 105 Quan followed suit with a 7-5, 7-5 victory against Trouve, giving the Bruins a 2-1 lead over the Trojans.

But that lead was short-lived.

Casanova fought his way back after trailing 6-1 in the first set, winning two consecutive sets to defeat Tripathi. Like Chinlund, Tripathi received treatment on his leg between points as the match proceeded.

“A bunch of our guys were having a little bit of injury problems,” Martin said. “Unfortunately, we were not able to have a trainer here today to help us, so I’m also massaging and doing things that normally I don’t have to do.”

Junior Andy Nguyen also fell to Exsted after a second-set tiebreak, bringing the Trojans to a 3-2 lead.

As the point slipped away, the cheers only grew louder.

That was, until Johnson silenced them.

No. 61 Johnson’s 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory brought the match to a 3-3 stalemate. The win marked the Ladera Ranch, California, local’s sixth dual match win and fourth consecutive victory.

Johnson said that despite the victory, he felt his mindset was not where it needed to be.

“I was not as focused as I should have been on what I do well,” Johnson said. “I was able to make it work towards the end.”

In the end, the Bruins fell to the Trojans, despite Chinlund’s efforts.

Following the defeat, Martin said that the level of competitiveness between the two rivals only fuels the level of intensity for the team to build on in the matches ahead.

“It brings out the competitiveness in both teams,” Martin said. “No matter how the years may go on – if you get a win or two over your cross town rival – it makes it special.”