Clear skies often represent a good omen.

And the Bruins played like it was meant to be, finishing their regular season under an uncharacteristically bright Pacific Northwest sun.

No. 21 UCLA men’s tennis (16-6, 10-3 Big Ten) defeated Oregon (14-10, 5-8) 4-2 on Friday in Eugene, Oregon, before besting Washington (8-17, 2-11) 4-3 on Sunday in Seattle, Washington.

Clear weather marked a rare break from the Pacific Northwest norm, allowing the Bruins to compete outdoors in familiar conditions.

UCLA opened the weekend against Oregon by dropping the doubles point despite a 6-3 win from redshirt junior Emon van Loben Sels and senior Gianluca Ballotta, who improved to 11-2 as a pairing.

But the early deficit did not linger long.

The Bruins responded quickly in singles play, claiming four of their five completed sets – highlighted by No. 94 sophomore Rudy Quan’s 6-2, 6-3 win against No. 113 Vlad Breazu, marking his third consecutive win. After Quan’s straight-set win, the importance of composure during fluctuating momentum became clear.

“The great thing about it (tennis) is that there’s always a new game,” Quan said. “There’s always time to reset between points. So (it’s important to) to recognize when the momentum is shifting and slow down.”

Team spirit helped the team earn a win, and while freshman Bengt Reinhard lost 6-2, 6-4 to Cameron Burton, the team pulled through with a 4-2 victory.

“People can get momentum from other people on the court. If they play a really bad game but their teammates next to them are playing a better one, their level goes up out of nowhere” said senior Aadarsh Tripathi.

That shared sentiment carried into Sunday’s match against Washington, when UCLA found a steadier foundation to play upon.

The Bruins controlled doubles play this time around, as Ballotta and van Loben Sels earned their third straight win, 6-2, to open up play. Tripathi and junior Andy Nguyen followed it up with a dominant 6-1 win over No. 46 Brett Pearson and Soham Purohit, marking their first victory over a ranked opponent.

Singles, however, proved to be a challenge.

Despite a victory from Cassius Chinlund, bringing the redshirt freshman to five consecutive wins, Washington lit up the scoreboard with its first win as van Loben Sels suffered his first straight-set loss since Jan. 31 and his third singles loss of 2026.

“Emon did not have a good day today, probably one of the very few he’s had all year,” coach Billy Martin said. “We almost seem to go into matches counting on him winning, but today that wasn’t the case.”

From there, the margin of error got tighter as Nguyen and Reinhard both went on to drop sets, with Nguyen ultimately steadying himself to tighten the score to 3-3.

Attention shifted to court three, where Tripathi faced Washington’s Rohan Belday.

With teammates lined along both sidelines, Tripathi battled through a decisive third set to clinch the team victory.

“Overall, I played a pretty good match. There were some hiccups in the second set … but Rohan played very well. I know him from the juniors, and I expected a gritty match,” Tripathi said.

The senior’s performance also reflected a broader mental shift.

After a difficult start to the season with a five-match losing streak in singles, Tripathi pointed to growing confidence as a key change.

“I probably had the worst start ever this year,” Tripathi said. “I was so frustrated. … Over time, I’ve realized that I can have more self-belief and confidence in myself.”

Martin said Tripathi’s role as a senior leader will be important as UCLA enters postseason play – especially with the potential absence of junior Spencer Johnson, who has been out since April 4 with an unconfirmed injury.

The Bruins will have the chance to carry their regular-season momentum into the Big Ten Tournament in Ojai, California. The Bruins finished with a .624 overall singles win percentage, improving to .703 in conference play.

“Everyone has done a good job at trying to both mentally and physically improve things in their game, so we hope we’re playing somewhat at the top of our ability going into our conference tournament and NCAA tournament,” Martin said.