The Bruins extended their winning streak to eight matches with another win Tuesday.
No. 13 UCLA men’s tennis (12-4, 4-0 Pac-12) defeated Pepperdine (9-10, 3-2 WCC) 4-1 at the Los Angeles Tennis Center. After singles wins by senior Maxime Cressy and freshman Govind Nanda, freshman Eric Hahn clinched the match for the Bruins with a 7-5, 6-1 win in his first start since Feb. 26.
“I had to be mentally prepared today,” Hahn said. “Just relax, think about the match and go in with a positive attitude and the right mindset to win.”
Freshman Patrick Zahraj was absent from the Bruins’ singles lineup for the match, as coach Billy Martin said he changed the lineup to give Hahn another chance in other matches.
“(Zahraj) wasn’t playing because of rest,” Martin said. “I also really wanted to get (Hahn) in for more matches. It was great to see him step in and win the match for us.”
The Bruins won the doubles point for the seventh consecutive match. The point came from a 6-3 win by Cressy and sophomore Keegan Smith and a 6-3 win by Nanda and redshirt sophomore Connor Rapp. Nanda said the duo had a good matchup and played well to complete back-to-back undefeated weeks.
“Me and (Rapp) are really starting to figure it out a little bit,” Nanda said. “Those guys didn’t really play that aggressively, so it allowed us to play more aggressive and raise our game.”
Martin said he was pleased to see the team play well after a quick turnaround following a win over USC on Friday.
“I was really always nervous about it because there is the chance of having a big letdown,” Martin said. “We talked about it and then came out well in the doubles. (Nanda) and (Cressy) wanted to get back on the winning campaign, and they played really well today to do that.”
Nanda and Cressy both suffered defeats against USC in singles and responded with straight-set victories against Pepperdine. Nanda finished first, 6-0, 6-3, followed closely by Cressy who triumphed 6-1, 6-2.
The Bruins have a chance to add to their winning streak in their return to Pac-12 play this weekend. UCLA will host Oregon and Washington at LATC on Friday and Saturday, respectively.