The path to Athens ran through the desert.
And the Bruins found their footing when it mattered most.
UCLA men’s tennis competed at the ITA West Sectional Championships at the Scottsdale Ranch Park & Tennis Center in Scottsdale, Arizona. Running from Nov. 5 to Nov. 8, the tournament featured 32 singles players and 16 doubles pairings competing for spots at the NCAA Championships in Athens, Georgia, from Nov. 17 to Nov. 22. Junior Rudy Quan, the tournament’s No. 1 seed, clinched an individual singles berth. Quan and senior fifth-year Emon van Loben Sels also qualified as a doubles pairing after finishing among the tournament’s top three teams.
“All in all, I can’t say I was totally satisfied with our play, but glad that we got Rudy (Quan) through in singles, and Rudy and Emon (van Loben Sels) in doubles,” said coach Billy Martin. “Again, that’s the way the cookie crumbles.”
Quan opened his singles campaign Thursday against Santa Clara’s Ferran Redza. After splitting the first two sets, the Thousand Oaks, California, local found himself in a third-set tiebreak, where he ultimately prevailed 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (3), saving multiple match points along the way.
“He was a great player,” Quan said. “I just remember telling myself I needed to keep fighting, and you never know what happens with tennis. I was down three match points, I was able to fight them off and I was able to come out back on top. It was just my willingness to just keep competing.”
The 2026 Big Ten Player to Watch honoree continued his run through the draw before facing UNLV’s Marko Maksimovic on Saturday with a trip to Athens on the line. Quan defeated the Rebel 6-3, 6-4, to secure his place in the NCAA Singles Championships.
“Really grateful to have made it,” Quan said. “I’m excited to keep competing and keep improving day by day.”
Van Loben Sels, the 2025 Big Ten Tournament Most Outstanding Player, opened his singles campaign with a 6-0, 7-5 victory over Santa Clara’s Lukas Maskow before falling to Arizona State’s Ofek Shimanov 4-6, 4-6 in the round of 16.
Despite singles struggles, van Loben Sels was able to make his mark on the doubles front, alongside Quan.
“My serve is my number one thing right now,” van Loben Sels said. “It’s gone in a direction that I’m not very happy with, but it is starting to get better again, and I would like to get that figured out.”
The No. 4 seed pairing opened their campaign with a 5-7, 6-2, 1-0 (10) nail-biting victory over Idaho State’s Sep de Visser and Timo de Visser before advancing to the quarterfinals and dominating California’s Alex Aney and Timofey Stepanov 6-2, 6-1.
But the path to an NCAA berth did not come without its hurdles.
Against USC’s No. 1 seed pairing of Nathan Trouve and Max Exsted in Saturday’s semifinals, Quan and van Loben Sels split the first two sets before falling 12-10 in the deciding match tiebreak.
Ultimately, both Bruins were able to regroup and secure a top-three finish in the doubles draw to punch a ticket to the NCAA Doubles Championships.
“Rudy doesn’t miss returns, and he does great from the baseline,” van Loben Sels said. “I’m pretty good at being at the net and taking control of points from the net. So him staying back and me at the net is a great combo.”
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