LOS ANGELES – The UCLA men's tennis team began its three-match week with a 4-3 victory against Yale Monday afternoon at Los Angeles Tennis Center.
Gianluca Ballotta earned his third clinching win of the season for the Bruins (7-3), securing the deciding point for a 4-2 advantage before the remaining contest was completed. Also victorious for UCLA were Stefan Leustian, Aadarsh Tripathi and Patrick Zahraj. The Bulldogs (7-4) picked up the doubles point and got singles wins from Vignesh Gogineni and Michael Sun.
Theo Dean and Aidan Reilly prevailed in a 6-1 result versus Tripathi and Giacomo Revelli on the second doubles court, giving Yale the advantage in doubles play. Zahraj and Timothy Li held a match point on Court 1, but were unable to finish after Sun and Eric Li dispatched of Jeffrey Fradkin and Stefan Leustian by a 6-3 margin on Court 3.
Four first sets went the way of the Bruins in singles play, including a 6-0 showing by Leustian on Court 6. He tacked on a 7-5 second after seizing the final three games from Walker Oberg, winning his first singles decision of the dual-match campaign. Tripathi followed with a 7-5, 6-4 defeat of Luke Neal on Court 3, giving UCLA its first lead of the day.
Gogineni outlasted Revelli on Court 2, logging a 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 decision that knotted the score at 2-2. Zahraj answered emphatically for the Bruins, though, taking six of seven third-set games opposite Dean on the top court. Zahraj's 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 victory improved his 2023 dual-match singles record to 7-1.
Ballotta was pushed to the edge by Reilly in both sets on Court 5, but fended off the Bulldog for a 7-6(3), 7-5 sealing win. Three of Ballotta's four victories have come in clinching fashion. He is 4-1 in dual matches.
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— UCLA Men's Tennis (@uclatennis) March 13, 2023
His 7-6(3), 7-5 win makes it 4-2, with Court 4 still to finish.#GoBruins pic.twitter.com/7hqgyOYSPs
A marathon final contest between Sun and UCLA's Azuma Visaya went to a 10-point, third-set tiebreaker. Visaya recovered from a lost first set to take the second by way of tiebreaker, but Sun ultimately edged him out in a 7-5, 6-7(7), 1-0(12) result.
The Bruins continue their homestand Thursday at 2 p.m. PT, when they welcome No. 11 Columbia to LATC. A home meeting with Oklahoma State follows Saturday at 12 p.m.
Tennis Match Results
Yale vs UCLA
3/13/2023 at Los Angeles, CA
(Los Angeles Tennis Center)
#34 UCLA 4, #53 Yale 3
Singles competition
1. Patrick Zahraj (UCLA) def. Theo Dean (YALE) 6-1, 4-6, 6-1
2. Vignesh Gogineni (YALE) def. Giacomo Revelli (UCLA) 6-3, 2-6, 6-3
3. Aadarsh Tripathi (UCLA) def. Luke Neal (YALE) 7-5, 6-4
4. Michael Sun (YALE) def. Azuma Visaya (UCLA) 7-5, 6-7 (7-9), 1-0 (14-12)
5. Gianluca Ballotta (UCLA) def. Aidan Reilly (YALE) 7-6 (7-3), 7-5
6. Stefan Leustian (UCLA) def. Walker Oberg (YALE) 6-0, 7-5
Doubles competition
1. Timothy Li/Patrick Zahraj (UCLA) vs. #79 Vignesh Gogineni/Renaud Lefevre (YALE) 5-4, unfinished
2. Theo Dean/Aidan Reilly (YALE) def. Giacomo Revelli/Aadarsh Tripathi (UCLA) 6-1
3. Eric Li/Michael Sun (YALE) def. Jeffrey Fradkin/Stefan Leustian (UCLA) 6-3
Match Notes:
Yale 7-4; National ranking #53
UCLA 7-3; National ranking #34
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (6,3,2,1,5,4)