Men's Tennis Set to Host Ranked Matchup, Senior Day

Saturday, April 11

Los Angeles, Calif.

12:00 PM (PT)

UCLA

Illinois

Aadarsh Tripathi

Photo by: CARY QIAN

Men's Tennis Set to Host Ranked Matchup, Senior Day

April 08, 2026 | Men's Tennis

MATCH INFORMATION
Opponent: No. 14 Illinois
Venue: Los Angeles Tennis Center
Date: Saturday, April 11
Time: 12 p.m. PT
Watch / Live Scoring: https://uclabruins.com/sports/2020/1/13/ucla-tennis-live-stats-m

Opponent: No. 66 Northwestern
Venue: Los Angeles Tennis Center
Date: Sunday, April 12
Time: 11 a.m. PT
Watch / Live Scoring: https://uclabruins.com/sports/2020/1/13/ucla-tennis-live-stats-m

The 24th-ranked UCLA men's tennis team finishes out the home portion of its regular-season schedule this week, when it welcomes No. 14 Illinois and No. 66 Northwestern to Los Angeles Tennis Center. The Bruins (13-5, 7-2 Big Ten) face off against Illinois (19-5, 8-2) Saturday at 12 p.m. PT with sole possession of third place in the Big Ten Conference standings up for grabs. UCLA then meets Northwestern (15-10, 3-7) Sunday at 11 a.m. for Senior Day.

FOLLOW LIVE
Fans unable to attend home UCLA men's tennis matches can still follow live. Up-to-the-second scoring and streaming are available for all matches played at Los Angeles Tennis Center HERE. Additionally, in-match updates for home and road contests can be found on the UCLA men's tennis X account.

SENIOR DAY
Seniors Gianluca Ballotta (Lima, Peru / Florida Virtual School), Will Steinberg (Santa Barbara, Calif. / Dos Pueblos HS) and Aadarsh Tripathi (Pleasanton, Calif. / Amador Valley HS) will be honored as part of Sunday's Senior Day celebration. Ballotta has amassed 55 total wins (30 singles, 25 doubles) while earning a plethora of academic awards, including two ITA Scholar-Athlete honors and a pair of CSC Academic All-District Team nods, during his career. Steinberg, a high-school standout before enrolling at UCLA as a full-time student, joined the team earlier this season. Tripathi was tabbed an ITA All-America for doubles in 2025 and has twice made the NCAA doubles tournament. He has 95 combined victories (45 singles, 50 doubles) and holds career-high ITA rankings of No. 70 for singles (Aug. 26, 2025) and No. 10 for doubles (Dec. 3, 2024 with partner Alexander Hoogmartens.

PAST MATCHUPS
Series vs. Illinois: UCLA leads 8-3
Most Recent vs. Illinois: UCLA won 4-1 on March 21, 2025 (Recap)
Series vs. Northwestern: Series tied 2-2
Most Recent vs. Northwestern: UCLA won 4-0 on March 23, 2025 (Recap)

LAST TIME OUT
The 22nd-ranked Bruins posted a split at home, falling 4-0 against No. 1 Ohio State (April 3) before bouncing back to beat Penn State 6-1 (April 4). In the latter match, Cassius Chinlund, Andy Nguyen, Bengt Reinhard and Emon van Loben Sels each played at a career-high singles position and was victorious. Aadarsh Tripathi also prevailed for UCLA. The Bruins captured the doubles point with 6-3 wins by van Loben Sels/Spencer Johnson and clincher Nguyen/Tripathi.

IN THE RANKINGS
Team (April 7): No. 24 UCLA
Singles (April 7): No. 24 Emon van Loben Sels, No. 52 Spencer Johnson, No. 86 Rudy Quan
Doubles (April 7): No. 29 Spencer Johnson/Emon van Loben Sels, No. 49 Rudy Quan/Aadarsh Tripathi

2025-26 AWARD WATCH
Emon van Loben Sels Named Big Ten Co-Player of the Week – April 1
Chinlund Voted Big Ten Freshman of the Week – March 25
Quan Deemed Men's Tennis Player to Watch in Big Ten – Jan. 9
Johnson Named Big Ten Player of the Week – Oct. 22, 2025

MILESTONE WATCH
Junior Spencer Johnson reached 100 total wins across singles and doubles matches (now 54 singles, 51 doubles) in the Bruins' 4-1 win against USC (March 13). Johnson accomplished the feat alongside doubles partner Aadarsh Tripathi, taking down Andrin Casanova/Jack McCarthy 6-3 on Court 1. Redshirt junior Emon van Loben Sels hit the century mark for his career (now 51 singles, 60 doubles) in UCLA's 6-1 victory at Purdue (March 8). He also joined the club in doubles play, teaming with Gianluca Ballotta to beat Nikola Jovic/Maj Premzl 6-4 on Court 2. Senior Tripathi currently sits at 95 wins (45 singles, 50 doubles).

MR. CLUTCH
Redshirt junior Emon van Loben Sels has developed a reputation for thriving late in close matches, with that most recently illustrated in the Bruins' 4-3 win at California earlier this season (Feb. 1). With all eyes on Court 3, where van Loben Sels squared off against Timofey Stepanov, the Bruin saw his 5-2 third-set lead turn into a 5-6, 15-40 deficit. The next three points would go the way of van Loben Sels, as well as seven of 11 in the tiebreaker to give UCLA a team victory. This followed the example of his thrilling 7-6(5), 5-7, 6-3 Court 2 triumph over Ohio State's Alexander Bernard that sealed another 4-3 result in the 2025 Big Ten Tournament championship match. This also snapped the Buckeyes' 76-match home winning streak. For his career, van Loben Sels has clinched eight wins to lead all current Bruins.

FALL RECAP
The NCAA Championship individual draws included four Bruins, with Spencer Johnson and Rudy Quan earning singles spots and Johnson/Emon van Loben Sels and Quan/Aadarsh Tripathi qualifying on the doubles side. At the ITA Southwest Regional Championships, Johnson and Quan reached the singles final to ensure their berths. Johnson/van Loben Sels punched its ticket the next day, winning the event's doubles title. Quan/Tripathi secured a spot in the ITA West Sectional Championships doubles final to join the field. Four of van Loben Sels' team-high seven singles wins (7-4) came against nationally-ranked players. Johnson/van Loben Sels went 7-2 in doubles play to lead UCLA, while Quan/Tripathi finished the year 5-2.

2024-25 IN REVIEW
The Bruins (19-9, 11-2 in Big Ten play) won 17 of their final 20 matches, highlighted by an improbable run to their program's first Big Ten Tournament championship. The team capped its run to the title by beating host and top-seeded Ohio State in a 4-3 thriller that snapped the Buckeyes' 76-match home winning streak. Unseeded UCLA went on to reach its first NCAA Championship quarterfinal round, beating crosstown rival USC at Los Angeles Tennis Center to get there. It was a breakout campaign for Big Ten Tournament Most Outstanding Player Emon van Loben Sels, who was also voted the ITA Southwest Region's Most Improved Player and Player to Watch going into 2025-26. Rudy Quan manned the top singles spot in a majority of the team's matches en route to Big Ten Freshman of the Year recognition. Alexander Hoogmartens, Spencer Johnson and Aadarsh Tripathi each earned All-America recognition for the first time in his career.

BIG TEN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS
UCLA on April 27, 2025 claimed its first-ever Big Ten Conference title and snapped top-seeded Ohio State's 76-match home winning streak – which dated back to 2021 – to do so. The three-hour and 32-minute tournament championship showdown ended with Most Outstanding Player Emon van Loben Sels the last man standing. Each of the other five singles contests were completed before the redshirt sophomore entered his third set with 62nd-ranked Alexander Bernard on Court 2. A break of serve for 5-3 was followed by a hold that gave van Loben Sels a 7-6(5), 5-7, 6-3 victory and the second-seeded Bruins a storybook showing in their program's first season as a member of the conference. Alexander Hoogmartens joined van Loben Sels on the All-Tournament Team. Hoogmartens' three-set win tied the score of the final at 3-3. The Buckeyes had not lost at home to a Big Ten team since 2003.

WHO'S BACK?
The Bruins return four of their top six singles winners and a quartet of doubles standouts from 2024-25, led by Emon van Loben Sels. The ITA Southwest Region's reigning Most Improved Player and Player to Watch led UCLA with a 24-9 singles record and a 23-10 doubles mark. A pair of All-Americans in Spencer Johnson and Aadarsh Tripathi also return. Hampered with an injury that kept him out for much of dual-match play, Johnson still finished his sophomore campaign 17-7 in singles play and 15-5 on the doubles side. Tripathi logged a 22-12 doubles showing while going 14-10 in singles. The Big Ten's newest Freshman of the Year, Rudy Quan, is back after turning in a 13-8 singles mark. He spent most of his debut dual-match campaign on the top singles court. Rounding out the list of regular contributors returning to the Bruins is Gianluca Ballotta, whose 15-9 doubles record was boosted by an 10-2 performance in Big Ten Conference contests.

WHO'S NEW?
Cassius Chinlund, Andy Nguyen, Bengt Reinhard and Will Steinberg join the Bruins for 2025-26. Redshirt freshman Chinlund (Los Angeles, Calif. / ICL Academy) makes his dual-match debut after sitting out the 2025 dual-match campaign. The former top-ranked USTA junior singles player won the Boys' 18 singles title at the 2023 Easter Bowl in Orlando, Fla. Junior Nguyen (Long Beach, Calif. / UC Irvine) joins the fold from UC Irvine, where he was voted Big West Freshman of the Year in 2024 and collected all-conference honors for both singles and doubles – including first-team nods in 2024-25 – each of his two years. He attended Millikan High School before becoming an Anteater. Freshman Reinhard (Fulda, Germany / Privatgymnasium Schwetzingen) swept Germany's singles and doubles national titles for the 14-and-under age division. He went on to achieve runner-up status in each for the 16-and-under category. Steinberg (Santa Barbara, Calif. / Dos Pueblos HS), who joined the team in March, played on the top singles court all four years of his high school career.

BRUINS ON TOUR
Former UCLA standouts continue to be household names in the professional ranks, with Maxime Cressy, Marcos Giron, Mackenzie McDonald and Jean-Julien Rojer turning in notable results across the Grand Slams and on the ATP Tour in recent years. Giron is currently No. 69 in the ATP singles rankings. He rose to a career-high spot of No. 37 after claiming his first ATP crown by knocking off fellow American Alex Michelsen at the 2024 Hall of Fame Open. Giron reached the BNP Paribas Open singles fourth round and the Australian Open singles third round in 2025. He knocked off world No. 5 Casper Ruud during his run in Indian Wells, Calif. McDonald, who opened 2023 by beating top seed and defending champion Rafael Nadal in three sets at the Australian Open, represented the United States at the Davis Cup Finals in Uzbekistan and achieved a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 37 the same year. Rojer collected his fourth Grand Slam title at Roland-Garros in 2022, teaming with Marcelo Arevalo to defeat Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek in the final. Rojer won three ATP championships with Arevalo in 2023 and another alongside Lloyd Glasspool in 2024. Cressy picked up his first ATP Tour championship and saw his singles ranking reach a career-best No. 31 when he beat Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan at the 2022 Hall of Fame Open in Newport, R.I. An ATP doubles title followed for Cressy in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where he teamed with Fabrice Martin to take the 2023 Dubai Open's top prize. Cressy stepped away from the tour in 2025 due to an ongoing lower back injury and is currently an undergraduate assistant coach for the Bruins.

MORE MARTIN MILESTONES
The 2025-26 season marks head coach Billy Martin's 33rd year at the helm of the UCLA men's tennis program and 43rd since joining the staff of friend, mentor and fellow UCLA Athletic Hall of Famer Glenn Bassett. Martin, who passed Bassett to became the program's all-time leader in head-coaching wins during the 2019 season, is the longest-tenured active coach at UCLA. He holds a career record of 689-180 (.793) as head coach. Martin guided the 2005 Bruins to the program's 16th NCAA team title and 24 of his squads have finished in the top five at the season-ending NCAA Championships. UCLA has collected 15 regular-season Pac-12 titles and five conference tournament (four Pac-12, one Big Ten) championships under Martin. Mackenzie McDonald (2016), Marcos Giron (2014) and Benjamin Kohlloeffel (2006) have claimed NCAA singles titles on Martin's watch, while UCLA has become a frequent landing spot for doubles champions of late. In addition to 1996 winning pair Justin Gimelstob/Srdjan Muskatirovic, three of the most recent seven titleholders – Maxime Cressy/Keegan Smith in 2019, Martin Redlicki/Evan Zhu in 2018 and McDonald/Redlicki in 2016 – have called Westwood home. Martin's decorated career as a Bruin expands to his playing career, as he helped the 1975 team to an NCAA team championship before going on to capture the singles crown in his lone season before pursuing a professional career.