IRVINE, Calif. – The UC Irvine men's tennis team won the doubles point against No. 20 UCLA, but the Bruins bounced back in singles for the 4-1 victory in both teams' 2025 opener Friday afternoon at Anteater Tennis Stadium.
 
Sohrob Amiryavari and Max Fardanesh started the match by taking down Kaylan Bigun/Rudy Quan, 6-4, at No. 3 doubles.
 
Andy Nguyen and Noah Zamora then upset the 10th-ranked duo of Alexander Hoogmartens/Aadarsh Tripathi, 6-3, at the top of the lineup. Nguyen/Zamora raced out to a 3-1 lead before the Bruins tied it up. The Anteaters then won three-straight games to clinch the doubles point. In the fall, Hoogmartens/Tripathi advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Doubles Championship to earn All-America status.
 
In singles, the 'Eaters had several chances to pull off an upset. With the team score tied at 1-1, Noah Zamora took a 4-1 lead in his second set against No. 13 Spencer Johnson, who he previously faced in the final of the ITA Southwest Regional Championships back in October. Johnson then came back to take the set and match, 6-3, 6-4.
 
On court three, Hiroki Sakagawa led 7-6 (7), 5-2 against Kaylan Bigun, while Rithvik Krishna was up 5-4 in his second set against No. 82 Emon van Loben Sels. Krishna also served for the first set at 5-4, but van Loben Sels was able to stay alive and take the tiebreaker, 7-6 (4). Both of those matches were still in progress when the Bruins clinched.
 
UCLA took a 3-1 advantage with No. 50 Rudy Quan's victory at the second spot, and No. 93 Aadarsh Tripathi closed it out with a hard-fought 6-4, 7-6 (4) win over Ruining Huang on court six. Huang held two set points in the second frame.
 
UC Irvine (0-1) continues its dual match season on Saturday, Jan. 18, when it heads to Pepperdine for a 1 p.m. showdown.