MALIBU, Calif. — Returning to Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center after playing on the road against two Pac-12 opponents last week, the Pepperdine men's tennis team hosts UCLA this Sunday at noon.
Sunday's match was initially scheduled for 2 p.m. but possible rainstorms in the afternoon pushed up the start time to noon. The match will be live-streamed via PlaySight, and admission to Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center is free to the public. All pertinent live stream and live stat links can be found on the men's tennis team's schedule page at pepperdinewaves.com.
UCLA leads 17-50 in the all-time record over Pepperdine, yet historically, most of the series has been played in Westwood. At Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center, the Waves have an 8-11 record against their crosstown foes, with Pepperdine's last win coming in a 4-1 victory in 2022. The Waves are looking to win back-to-back matches against the Bruins for the first time since 2006, when the Waves beat the Bruins on the road and then in the Elite Eight of the Waves' NCAA title run.
MATCH 6: Pepperdine (1-4) vs. UCLA (3-2) | Sunday, Feb. 18 | Noon | Malibu, Calif.
SCOUTING THE WAVES
Pepperdine is looking to reverse course after a tough weekend in the Bay Area against #17 Stanford and California.
Although the Waves won the doubles point at #17 Stanford last Friday, the team couldn't maintain that momentum in singles, as the Cardinal swept all six singles matches to win 6-1. Two days later in Berkeley, the Waves tried clawing back against the Golden Bears after dropping the doubles point, however, California clinched the match with concurrent wins on courts six and two while the Waves pushed two singles matches to the third sets.
Pietro Fellin is Pepperdine's wins leader in singles with a 3-1 record playing primarily at the fourth position. At the top of the lineup, #28 Edward Winter is looking to rebound from last weekend, as he went 0-1 with his match against Stanford going unfinished. Winter has played two top-15 opponents this year and has seen his last two matches reach a third set. Elsewhere in the lineup, Maxi Homberg is the only other Wave to notch multiple singles wins; he has a 2-3 record at the fifth line.
The Waves have made some strides in doubles, most notably with the return of Linus Carlsson Halldin and George Davis over the last two weeks. The duo, which earned an at-large berth at the ITA National Fall Championships, have a team-leading 2-1 record playing at the second and third positions. Pepperdine has also used a new team of Winter and Fellin at the second and third positions as well; although they have a 1-0 record, the team was up 5-4 against Stanford and tied 4-4 against California before the doubles point was clinched elsewhere.
SCOUTING THE BRUINS
Playing its first match in 10 days, UCLA looks to notch its second-straight win over a West Coast Conference school. On Feb. 7, UCLA won its first match at home in a 6-1 rout of LMU.
Earlier this spring, the Bruins were tested early with losses to No. 19 Texas A&M and No. 15 Harvard — not to mention UCLA has played three of its five matches on the road. Winners of the last three matches, UCLA will make yet another road trip (albeit a short one) this weekend before hosting UNLV on Feb. 25.
Despite suiting up nine different players in singles this spring, #58 Govind Nanda is UCLA's lone ranked player with a 4-2 record — including a win over No. 18 Tyler Zink of Oklahoma State. However, Spencer Johnson leads the team with a 4-1 singles record with most of his wins coming at the fourth position. Emon van Loben Sels has bolstered the back of UCLA's lineup with a 3-0 record, while Giacomo Revelli is looking to bounce back at the top half of UCLA's lineup after starting the season 1-3.
In doubles, van Loben Sels and Revelli are UCLA's lone undefeated team with a 3-0 mark at the third position. The Bruins have won the doubles point three times this season, and have a 2-1 record when they win the doubles point.
FOLLOW: Follow @PeppTennis on Facebook and X for immediate updates, results and more. Go to pepperdinewaves.com for all information, releases and schedules.
