{"id":599501,"date":"2026-04-11T06:27:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T06:27:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/599501\/"},"modified":"2026-04-11T06:27:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T06:27:12","slug":"ucla-mens-tennis-aims-to-close-out-season-strong-against-illinois-northwestern","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/599501\/","title":{"rendered":"UCLA men\u2019s tennis aims to close out season strong against Illinois, Northwestern"},"content":{"rendered":"

Postseason play is fast approaching.<\/p>\n

And for the Bruins \u2013 who have the chance to retrace their path to a Big Ten championship and NCAA regionals berth \u2013 that means closing out the season strong.<\/p>\n

No. 24 UCLA men\u2019s tennis (13-5, 7-2 Big Ten) will host No. 14 Illinois (19-5, 8-2) Saturday and Northwestern (15-10, 3-7) Sunday at the Los Angeles Tennis Center in the final homestead of the regular season. The stretch marks the penultimate weekend before the Big Ten tournament. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to be a little bit more ready,\u201d said coach Billy Martin. \u201cThey (The Fighting Illini) are good. There\u2019s no doubt about it. \u2026 We\u2019re going to have a little bit more of the fire I\u2019ve seen the guys have.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Bruins went on a midseason hot streak, winning seven straight matches, including victories over then-No. 9 San Diego and then-No. 25 USC in tightly contested battles. But the streak came to an end with back-to-back losses against No. 20 Michigan State and then-No. 1 Ohio State \u2013 the top two Big Ten squads.<\/p>\n

And Illinois sits just one match ahead of UCLA in the ranks, entering the weekend on a four-match win streak with the chance to solidify its position near the top of the conference. With the Big Ten tournament set to begin April 22, the Fighting Illini will have the chance to gain ground \u2013 and potentially separate themselves from the Bruins. <\/p>\n

\"(PranavRedshirt junior Emon van Loben Sels prepares to hit the ball. (Pranav Akella\/Daily Bruin)<\/p>\n

UCLA, meanwhile, is coming off a bounce-back win over Penn State. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always kind of had that mentality where on any given day, you can win some, you lose some,\u201d said redshirt freshman Cassius Chinlund. \u201cJust having that confidence going in, knowing that I have the level, knowing that I have the wins under my belt, I\u2019m able to carry that forward into the next matches.\u201d <\/p>\n

Chinlund defeated Nittany Lion David Lindsay in straight sets, improving to 12-3 in dual match play and 7-1 across his last eight completed matches. <\/p>\n

Although Saturday\u2019s ranked matchup looms on the foreground, the Bruins are not discounting the Wildcats.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s probably our biggest challenge,\u201d said redshirt junior Emon van Loben Sels. \u201cPrioritizing Sunday matches as much as the Saturday match.\u201d <\/p>\n

Northwestern, which sits near the bottom of the Big Ten standings, presents a different kind of test. While the Wildcats have struggled in conference play, Sunday carries just as much weight as Saturday\u2019s contest. <\/p>\n

Van Loben Sels \u2013 who is ranked No. 24 nationally in singles \u2013 has anchored the Bruins at the top of the lineup while also playing a key role in doubles. Van Loben Sels and junior Spencer Johnson form the nation\u2019s No. 29-ranked pair and helped set the tone in UCLA\u2019s last match with a 6-3 opening win over Penn State\u2019s David Lindsay and Michael Wright. <\/p>\n

With the regular season nearing its close, UCLA will have the opportunity to build momentum heading into postseason play \u2013 and prove it can compete with the conference\u2019s top teams.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think a lot of the guys can compete better, and we haven\u2019t brought out our potential yet,\u201d van Loben Sels said. \u201cI think that can make a difference next week.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Postseason play is fast approaching. And for the Bruins \u2013 who have the chance to retrace their path…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":599502,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[64,63,85,747],"class_list":["post-599501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/599501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=599501"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/599501\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/599502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=599501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=599501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=599501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}