Tuesday, March 26
San Francisco, CA
11:00 AM
UCLA
at
San Francisco
Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer (right) and Kimmi Hance
Photo by: Scott Chandler
No. 16 Women's Tennis Hits the Road for Three in Northern California
March 25, 2024 | Women's Tennis
MATCH INFORMATION
Date/Time: Tuesday, March 26/11:00 AM PT
ย ย ย ย Friday, March 29/1:30 PM PT
ย ย ย ย Saturday, March 30/12:00 PM PT
Live Stream: https://tinyurl.com/yckc9wr2 (Friday)/https://tinyurl.com/yapahpsn (Saturday)
Live Stats: https://tinyurl.com/yckc9wr2 (Friday)/https://tinyurl.com/yapahpsn (Saturday)
Series vs. San Francisco: First meeting
Series vs. Stanford: Stanford leads 83-22
Last Meeting vs. STAN: Stanford won 5-2 on March 26, 2023
Series vs. California: UCLA leads 50-38
Last Meeting vs. CAL: California won 5-2 on March 25, 2023
THIS WEEK
The 16th-ranked UCLA women's tennis team is set for three matches in Northern California, including top-20 Pac-12 Conference clashes with No. 4 Stanford and No. 10 California. It all starts Tuesday at 11 a.m. PT, when the Bruins (9-3, 4-0 Pac-12) visit the University of San Francisco (3-7, 0-0 WCC) and The Olympic Club for the first meeting in the programs' histories. A return to league play follows Friday against the Cardinal (13-1, 3-0 Pac-12) at Taube Family Tennis Center. First serve in that one is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. The trip concludes Saturday at Hellman Tennis Complex, where the Golden Bears await for a 12 p.m. clash.
FOLLOW LIVE
Point-by-point scores and live video from Stanford's Taube Family Tennis Center will be available HERE. Up-to-the-minute scoring and live streaming from Hellman Tennis Complex are HERE.
LAST TIME OUT
UCLA earned home wins against Arizona State (4-0 on March 15) and Arizona (6-1 on March 16), running its winning streak to seven. The Bruins recovered from an injury retirement early in doubles play, with Elise Wagle completing the sweep of the Sun Devils. Wagle, Tian Fangran and Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer each won on the singles and doubles courts. The next day, Lutkemeyer, Bianca Fernandez, Kimmi Hance and clincher Ahmani Guichard of were each triumphant twice. Tian added the fifth singles victory. Brandelyn Fulgenzi prevailed for the Wildcats. Her singles win was the first in conference play versus UCLA this season.
UCLA VS. SAN FRANCISCO, STANFORD, CALIFORNIA
UCLA and San Francisco have never met. The Bruins will try to improve upon a 22-83 all-time record in their program's series with Stanford. UCLA got off on the right foot versus the Cardinal March 26, 2023, but ultimately fell by a 5-2 score at Los Angeles Tennis Center. The Bruins earned the doubles point and Tian Fangran prevailed after the overall decision was sealed. Alexis Blokhina clinched the victory for Stanford, completing a two-win day. UCLA is 50-38 against California after most recently dropping a 5-2 decision March 25, 2023 at LATC. The Bruins got singles wins from Tian and Elise Wagle after the decision was made. Jessica Alsola of the Golden Bears clinched the overall result. Alsola and Katja Wiersholm were victorious on the singles and doubles courts.
IN THE RANKINGS
UCLA rose to No. 16, its highest spot since Jan. 31, in the ITA's March 19 rankings. The Bruins have won seven matches in a row. They were slotted at No. 29 when the streak began. The most recent singles rankings include Tian Fangran (No. 59), Bianca Fernandez (72) and Kimmi Hance (89). Each defeated a top-60 player in the Bruins' non-conference victory against USC March 1. Tian has won seven consecutive contests, while Fernandez is at six in a row. The doubles combination of Hance and Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer, meanwhile, debuted at No. 80. The pair has prevailed in all five of its matches played and knocked off No. 55 Alexia Jacobs/Astrid Olsen of Washington March 9.
TIAN NAMED PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK FOR THIRD TIME THIS SEASON
Tian Fangran was named Pac-12 Player of the Week for the week of March 11-17, giving her three straight awards and four overall this season. The defending NCAA singles champion's 6-0, 6-0 performance against Arizona State's Chelsea Fontenel came in a 4-0 team triumph. The next day, Tian beat No. 123 Reece Carter of Arizona 6-3, 6-2 and UCLA prevailed 6-1. Each of Tian's singles wins came before the overall result was clinched. Tian and Elise Wagle also beat Sun Devils Fontenel and Patricija Spaka 6-1 in doubles play after a Bruin team was forced to retire. Tian/Wagle had its match abandoned leading 5-4 versus the top-court Wildcats. Tian is now a five-time Pac-12 Player of the Week award winner for her career. UCLA has collected 44 of the honors in program history.
FALL RECAP
Bruins appeared at three tournaments during the fall. Freshman Ahmani Guichard made her debut on a national scale, logging two of her team-high six fall singles wins at the ITA All-American Championships in Cary, N.C. Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer and Elise Wagle each recorded three singles victories at the ITA Southwest Regional Championships in San Diego. Guichard and Lutkemeyer teamed to collect two wins at ITA Regionals and added another during Thunderbird Invitational play in Tempe, Ariz. Guichard added two more singles wins in the desert.
2022-23 IN REVIEW
The 2022-23 UCLA women's tennis team advanced to the super-regional round of the NCAA Championships, upsetting host and No. 6-seed Duke to get there. The Bruins rallied from a 3-1 deficit and Sasha Vagramov provided the heroics with all eyes on her court. UCLA went 15-8 for the season. Kimmi Hance (doubles), Tian Fangran (singles) and Elise Wagle (doubles) each received All-America recognition. Hance and Wagle qualified for the NCAA doubles draw, while Tian claimed the second NCAA singles title in program history. Tian was also a finalist for the Honda Sport Award for Tennis and voted ITA Rookie of the Year and Pac-12 Freshman/Newcomer of the Year. Hance and Wagle made up the Pac-12's Doubles Team of the Year. Tian earned a spot on the All-Conference First Team, Hance made the Second Team and Wagle was an Honorable Mention pick.
T IS FOR TITLE
Freshman Tian Fangran completed a sparkling run through the 2023 NCAA Championships singles tournament at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla., defeating Layne Sleeth of Oklahoma 6-4, 6-2 for the second NCAA singles title in program history. The No. 9-16-seeded Tian joined UCLA Athletic Hall of Famer Keri Phebus as the only Bruins to lift the trophy at the season-ending event. En route to the title, Tian won six matches without dropping a single set. She completed her debut college season with a singles record of 30-7, including a 17-6 mark against nationally-ranked opponents. The NCAA singles championship represents the first in the career of head coach Stella Sampras Webster, who was on staff as an assistant coach under Bill Zaima when Phebus collected hers.
WHO'S NEW?
Freshmen Bianca Fernandez (Montreal, QC, Canada/International Virtual Learning Academy), Ahmani Guichard (Seminole, Fla./Florida Virtual School) and Mia Jovic (Torrance, Calif./South HS) joined the Bruins in 2023-24. Fernandez, a veteran of ITF events who earned her first WTA points at the age of 15, reached the doubles second round alongside her sister and partner Leylah Fernandez at the 2022 National Bank Open in Toronto. Guichard, regarded as a Blue Chip prospect by TennisRecruiting.net, reached the singles second round at the 2022 US Open Junior Championships and also earned berths into the 2023 Australian Open Junior Championships and 2022 Roland-Garros Junior Championships. Jovic helped her high school to four consecutive CIF Southern Section Championships appearances and captured the Pioneer League singles title in 2019.
BRUINS ON TOUR
Ena Shibahara earned her first Grand Slam championship in 2022, teaming with Wesley Koolhof to seize the mixed doubles title at Roland-Garros. She made her first major women's doubles final round alongside Shuko Aoyama at the 2023 Australian Open. Shibahara/Aoyama was the last pair standing at the 2023 National Bank Open in Toronto, giving each player her second WTA 1000 championship. Shibahara climbed to a career-best No. 4 position in the WTA's doubles rankings in March 2022 and entered 2024 at No. 14. Catherine Harrison also had a standout 2022, competing at Roland-Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open. She reached the singles second round at the All England Club and earned a main-draw win in doubles at each event. Harrison added the Australian Open to her résumé in 2023 and made a return trip earlier this year. She also collected her first WTA title in 2022, partnering with Sabrina Santamaria to prevail at the Monterrey Open in Mexico. Harrison posted career-high WTA rankings of 214 singles and 69 doubles in 2022. Robin Anderson also had a stellar 2022, making career-high appearances of 137 singles and 181 doubles. She made her Grand Slam main-draw debut at the 2022 Australian Open. Jennifer Brady achieved the highest singles ranking of any former UCLA standout when she climbed to No. 13 in 2021. Elysia Bolton (167) and Jada Hart (296) earned the highest doubles rankings of their careers thus far in 2023.
STELLA'S STERLING RÉSUMÉ
Head coach Stella Sampras Webster is in her 28th season at the helm of the UCLA women's tennis program, compiling an impressive overall record of 512-189 (.730). She is the second-longest-tenured active coach at UCLA, behind men's tennis head coach Billy Martin. Sampras Webster collected the 500th win of her illustrious career when the Bruins defeated UC San Diego on April 18, 2023. She has guided her alma mater to NCAA championships in 2008 and 2014, the first two in program history. Sampras Webster's teams have finished top-10 nationally in 22 of her 26 completed seasons and in the top five 15 times. Four NCAA individual championships have been won under her watch: Tian Fangran in 2023, Gabby Andrews/Ayan Broomfield in 2019, Tracy Lin/Riza Zalameda in 2008 and Daniela Bercek/Lauren Fisher in 2004.
Date/Time: Tuesday, March 26/11:00 AM PT
ย ย ย ย Friday, March 29/1:30 PM PT
ย ย ย ย Saturday, March 30/12:00 PM PT
Live Stream: https://tinyurl.com/yckc9wr2 (Friday)/https://tinyurl.com/yapahpsn (Saturday)
Live Stats: https://tinyurl.com/yckc9wr2 (Friday)/https://tinyurl.com/yapahpsn (Saturday)
Series vs. San Francisco: First meeting
Series vs. Stanford: Stanford leads 83-22
Last Meeting vs. STAN: Stanford won 5-2 on March 26, 2023
Series vs. California: UCLA leads 50-38
Last Meeting vs. CAL: California won 5-2 on March 25, 2023
THIS WEEK
The 16th-ranked UCLA women's tennis team is set for three matches in Northern California, including top-20 Pac-12 Conference clashes with No. 4 Stanford and No. 10 California. It all starts Tuesday at 11 a.m. PT, when the Bruins (9-3, 4-0 Pac-12) visit the University of San Francisco (3-7, 0-0 WCC) and The Olympic Club for the first meeting in the programs' histories. A return to league play follows Friday against the Cardinal (13-1, 3-0 Pac-12) at Taube Family Tennis Center. First serve in that one is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. The trip concludes Saturday at Hellman Tennis Complex, where the Golden Bears await for a 12 p.m. clash.
FOLLOW LIVE
Point-by-point scores and live video from Stanford's Taube Family Tennis Center will be available HERE. Up-to-the-minute scoring and live streaming from Hellman Tennis Complex are HERE.
LAST TIME OUT
UCLA earned home wins against Arizona State (4-0 on March 15) and Arizona (6-1 on March 16), running its winning streak to seven. The Bruins recovered from an injury retirement early in doubles play, with Elise Wagle completing the sweep of the Sun Devils. Wagle, Tian Fangran and Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer each won on the singles and doubles courts. The next day, Lutkemeyer, Bianca Fernandez, Kimmi Hance and clincher Ahmani Guichard of were each triumphant twice. Tian added the fifth singles victory. Brandelyn Fulgenzi prevailed for the Wildcats. Her singles win was the first in conference play versus UCLA this season.
UCLA VS. SAN FRANCISCO, STANFORD, CALIFORNIA
UCLA and San Francisco have never met. The Bruins will try to improve upon a 22-83 all-time record in their program's series with Stanford. UCLA got off on the right foot versus the Cardinal March 26, 2023, but ultimately fell by a 5-2 score at Los Angeles Tennis Center. The Bruins earned the doubles point and Tian Fangran prevailed after the overall decision was sealed. Alexis Blokhina clinched the victory for Stanford, completing a two-win day. UCLA is 50-38 against California after most recently dropping a 5-2 decision March 25, 2023 at LATC. The Bruins got singles wins from Tian and Elise Wagle after the decision was made. Jessica Alsola of the Golden Bears clinched the overall result. Alsola and Katja Wiersholm were victorious on the singles and doubles courts.
IN THE RANKINGS
UCLA rose to No. 16, its highest spot since Jan. 31, in the ITA's March 19 rankings. The Bruins have won seven matches in a row. They were slotted at No. 29 when the streak began. The most recent singles rankings include Tian Fangran (No. 59), Bianca Fernandez (72) and Kimmi Hance (89). Each defeated a top-60 player in the Bruins' non-conference victory against USC March 1. Tian has won seven consecutive contests, while Fernandez is at six in a row. The doubles combination of Hance and Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer, meanwhile, debuted at No. 80. The pair has prevailed in all five of its matches played and knocked off No. 55 Alexia Jacobs/Astrid Olsen of Washington March 9.
TIAN NAMED PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK FOR THIRD TIME THIS SEASON
Tian Fangran was named Pac-12 Player of the Week for the week of March 11-17, giving her three straight awards and four overall this season. The defending NCAA singles champion's 6-0, 6-0 performance against Arizona State's Chelsea Fontenel came in a 4-0 team triumph. The next day, Tian beat No. 123 Reece Carter of Arizona 6-3, 6-2 and UCLA prevailed 6-1. Each of Tian's singles wins came before the overall result was clinched. Tian and Elise Wagle also beat Sun Devils Fontenel and Patricija Spaka 6-1 in doubles play after a Bruin team was forced to retire. Tian/Wagle had its match abandoned leading 5-4 versus the top-court Wildcats. Tian is now a five-time Pac-12 Player of the Week award winner for her career. UCLA has collected 44 of the honors in program history.
FALL RECAP
Bruins appeared at three tournaments during the fall. Freshman Ahmani Guichard made her debut on a national scale, logging two of her team-high six fall singles wins at the ITA All-American Championships in Cary, N.C. Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer and Elise Wagle each recorded three singles victories at the ITA Southwest Regional Championships in San Diego. Guichard and Lutkemeyer teamed to collect two wins at ITA Regionals and added another during Thunderbird Invitational play in Tempe, Ariz. Guichard added two more singles wins in the desert.
2022-23 IN REVIEW
The 2022-23 UCLA women's tennis team advanced to the super-regional round of the NCAA Championships, upsetting host and No. 6-seed Duke to get there. The Bruins rallied from a 3-1 deficit and Sasha Vagramov provided the heroics with all eyes on her court. UCLA went 15-8 for the season. Kimmi Hance (doubles), Tian Fangran (singles) and Elise Wagle (doubles) each received All-America recognition. Hance and Wagle qualified for the NCAA doubles draw, while Tian claimed the second NCAA singles title in program history. Tian was also a finalist for the Honda Sport Award for Tennis and voted ITA Rookie of the Year and Pac-12 Freshman/Newcomer of the Year. Hance and Wagle made up the Pac-12's Doubles Team of the Year. Tian earned a spot on the All-Conference First Team, Hance made the Second Team and Wagle was an Honorable Mention pick.
T IS FOR TITLE
Freshman Tian Fangran completed a sparkling run through the 2023 NCAA Championships singles tournament at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla., defeating Layne Sleeth of Oklahoma 6-4, 6-2 for the second NCAA singles title in program history. The No. 9-16-seeded Tian joined UCLA Athletic Hall of Famer Keri Phebus as the only Bruins to lift the trophy at the season-ending event. En route to the title, Tian won six matches without dropping a single set. She completed her debut college season with a singles record of 30-7, including a 17-6 mark against nationally-ranked opponents. The NCAA singles championship represents the first in the career of head coach Stella Sampras Webster, who was on staff as an assistant coach under Bill Zaima when Phebus collected hers.
WHO'S NEW?
Freshmen Bianca Fernandez (Montreal, QC, Canada/International Virtual Learning Academy), Ahmani Guichard (Seminole, Fla./Florida Virtual School) and Mia Jovic (Torrance, Calif./South HS) joined the Bruins in 2023-24. Fernandez, a veteran of ITF events who earned her first WTA points at the age of 15, reached the doubles second round alongside her sister and partner Leylah Fernandez at the 2022 National Bank Open in Toronto. Guichard, regarded as a Blue Chip prospect by TennisRecruiting.net, reached the singles second round at the 2022 US Open Junior Championships and also earned berths into the 2023 Australian Open Junior Championships and 2022 Roland-Garros Junior Championships. Jovic helped her high school to four consecutive CIF Southern Section Championships appearances and captured the Pioneer League singles title in 2019.
BRUINS ON TOUR
Ena Shibahara earned her first Grand Slam championship in 2022, teaming with Wesley Koolhof to seize the mixed doubles title at Roland-Garros. She made her first major women's doubles final round alongside Shuko Aoyama at the 2023 Australian Open. Shibahara/Aoyama was the last pair standing at the 2023 National Bank Open in Toronto, giving each player her second WTA 1000 championship. Shibahara climbed to a career-best No. 4 position in the WTA's doubles rankings in March 2022 and entered 2024 at No. 14. Catherine Harrison also had a standout 2022, competing at Roland-Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open. She reached the singles second round at the All England Club and earned a main-draw win in doubles at each event. Harrison added the Australian Open to her résumé in 2023 and made a return trip earlier this year. She also collected her first WTA title in 2022, partnering with Sabrina Santamaria to prevail at the Monterrey Open in Mexico. Harrison posted career-high WTA rankings of 214 singles and 69 doubles in 2022. Robin Anderson also had a stellar 2022, making career-high appearances of 137 singles and 181 doubles. She made her Grand Slam main-draw debut at the 2022 Australian Open. Jennifer Brady achieved the highest singles ranking of any former UCLA standout when she climbed to No. 13 in 2021. Elysia Bolton (167) and Jada Hart (296) earned the highest doubles rankings of their careers thus far in 2023.
STELLA'S STERLING RÉSUMÉ
Head coach Stella Sampras Webster is in her 28th season at the helm of the UCLA women's tennis program, compiling an impressive overall record of 512-189 (.730). She is the second-longest-tenured active coach at UCLA, behind men's tennis head coach Billy Martin. Sampras Webster collected the 500th win of her illustrious career when the Bruins defeated UC San Diego on April 18, 2023. She has guided her alma mater to NCAA championships in 2008 and 2014, the first two in program history. Sampras Webster's teams have finished top-10 nationally in 22 of her 26 completed seasons and in the top five 15 times. Four NCAA individual championships have been won under her watch: Tian Fangran in 2023, Gabby Andrews/Ayan Broomfield in 2019, Tracy Lin/Riza Zalameda in 2008 and Daniela Bercek/Lauren Fisher in 2004.
Players Mentioned
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