Two matches. Two clinches.
That’s what defined the Bruin debut of Azuma Visaya.
UCLA men’s tennis (2-0) secured back-to-back victories Friday and Saturday at the Los Angeles Tennis Center. The blue and gold notched its first shutout of the season with a 7-0 triumph over Hawai’i (0-3) before upsetting No. 19 Pepperdine (0-1) the following day 4-3.
Visaya, a freshman playing his first two collegiate dual matches, entrenched himself as the man of the weekend by clinching both wins for UCLA. The Bruins were also led on the singles front by No. 83-ranked sophomore Alexander Hoogmartens, who defeated his fourth and fifth top-50 opponent of the season.
Visaya said he approached the weekend’s double home opener as an opportunity to prove himself.
“I just wanted to go out there and compete to really show the team what I can do,” Visaya said. “I put in a lot of work throughout winter break, and so far, it’s gone well.”
Visaya clinched UCLA’s victory over Hawai’i when the Honolulu native won each of the first two sets 6-3 against Andy Hernandez.
After a tight first set in which Visaya pulled away 7-2 in the tiebreaker, the freshman took control early in the second set to emerge with a 7-6(2), 6-2 victory over Pepperdine’s Pietro Fellin. The Bruin squad immediately began mobbing Visaya after clinching the upset with a 28-shot rally.
Visaya said after assembling his first and second winning performances at UCLA, he plans on continuing to do so in the future.
“That was the best. That was the first time that has ever happened to me,” Visaya said. “I hope it happens more in the future. Yeah, it’s just a great feeling.”
Coach Billy Martin said Visaya’s on-court maturity throughout the weekend stood out to him.
“Azuma just really stepped up and was so physical, so mature with his mind too,” Martin said. “He was just focused on the job at hand, that’s what I’m most impressed with for him.”
But before Visaya played hero, the Bruins took to doubles play to fight for a 1-0 advantage.
UCLA secured a doubles win against Pepperdine after Hoogmartens and junior Timothy Li won their match via a 10-8 decision in the tiebreaker. The narrow win allowed the Bruins to take the lead going into singles play.
A similar narrative had played out just a day before, when the blue and gold needed a 7-6(5) performance from sophomore Giacomo Revelli and redshirt senior Patrick Zahraj to snag the early advantage against the Rainbow Warriors.
Martin commended both players’ performance in the tie-breaking victory over the Waves.
“We were so fortunate to win that doubles point with the great tiebreaker win,” Martin said. “Alex also had another great day against a top player, and then it came down to which one of the young kids was going to win in the back.”
Hoogmartens’ singles match against Pepperdine marked his second top-50 victory of the weekend after defeating No. 31 Daniel De Jonge of Pepperdine in two sets. Hoogmartens only surrendered one game in his first set before taking the match with a 6-3 tally in the second.
Hoogmartens said the match against Pepperdine allowed the team to evaluate where they stand, and he was happy with the team effort.
“It was so important, especially with our new team because we didn’t know how good we were going to be,” Hoogmartens said. “I definitely feel very comfortable for the season after today.”
Hoogmartens, who did not lose a singles set all weekend, added that his history with De Jonge worked to his advantage.
“I was just confident going into the match. I already played against him last year,” Hoogmartens said. “I just felt confident in myself and went for it.”
Now with a ranked win and homestand sweep to their name, the next competition for the Bruins will be Saturday against Memphis at this year’s ITA Kickoff Weekend.
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