For the second consecutive November, a Westwood pas de quatre will waltz in the Big Dance.
No. 19 junior Spencer Johnson, No. 36 redshirt junior Emon van Loben Sels, No. 70 senior Aadarsh Tripathi and sophomore Rudy Quan – all representing UCLA men’s tennis – will compete in the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida, from Tuesday to Sunday.
No. 8 Johnson/van Loben Sels and Quan/Tripathi will compete in Orlando as doubles pairs, while Quan and Johnson will also compete in the singles competition.
It will be a familiar foxtrot for three of the Bruins – van Loben Sels, Johnson and Tripathi – who competed in last year’s NCAA championships, with the latter two earning All-American honors.
But the Bruins’ journey to qualifying for the premier collegiate singles and doubles tournament was extensive, stretching over the past month.
From Oct. 16-21, the Bruins competed at the ITA Southwest Regional at Kiwanis Tennis Center in Tempe, Arizona. There, Johnson and Quan secured top-two finishes to clinch singles berths in the NCAA championships.
“It was very physical,” Quan said. “I kept things pretty simple in my game, focused on my strengths, trying to stay aggressive and also stay patient, not try to overcommit.”
Johnson and van Loben Sels won 7-5, 6-1 at the regional doubles championship to clinch a doubles berth in Orlando.
Quan and Tripathi fell short in Arizona, losing via tiebreaker in the quarterfinal doubles round. But they hadn’t taken their final bow just yet.
From Nov. 6-9, Quan and Tripathi suited up for the ITA West Sectionals at Hellman Tennis Complex in Berkeley, California.
And the match started off slow, with the pair losing the first set in two of their three matches.
“We were very nervous with everything that’s on the line,” Tripathi said. “NCAAs is on the line. Going out there and knowing that that big of a thing is on the line, (we) started a little slow.”
It was a nail-biting tournament for the Bruin duo, with all three matches heading to tiebreaker sets.
But as the matches progressed, Tripathi said he and Quan reclaimed their mettle by trusting their ability to thrive and remain present in competitive moments.
“We got into the groove of the match and just realized ‘You know what, we’re able to still compete with these guys,’” Tripathi said. “That helped us loosen up a lot and compete really well and really just be there in those moments. And I feel like we executed on that really well, especially towards the end.”
The pair emerged victorious, winning all three matches en route to UCLA’s second doubles berth in Orlando.
Tripathi said between regionals and sectionals, he and Quan refined their approach by experimenting more and increasing their trust in one another.
Coach Billy Martin added that the pair’s emerging success is a major development for the Bruins heading into the NCAAs and onwards.
“This will give them great confidence moving into the NCAAs,” Martin said. “It makes me happy to know that we solidified two really good teams in Emon and Spencer and Aadarsh and Rudy moving into January when we start our main team season.”
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