URBANA, Ill. – Playing in his first-career NCAA Championships, Alexander Hoogmartens of the UCLA men’s tennis team was defeated by Brian Cernoch of North Carolina in the singles tournament’s first round at Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex.
No. 35 Hoogmartens held serve out of the gate, but the 33rd-ranked Cernoch took 11 of the ensuing 12 games for a 6-1, 6-1 win. Cernoch next meets Jeffrey von der Schulenburg of Virginia or No. 9-16 Clement Chidekh of Washington Tuesday.
Hoogmartens, who had not played in a match since April 9 heading into the year-end national tournament, completed his freshman season with a 14-7 singles record. He went 6-4 versus nationally-ranked opponents on the singles courts. From Feb. 13-March 29, Hoogmartens won seven decisions in a row. Included in that stretch were consecutive victories against No. 14 Luc Fomba of TCU (March 10 – 6-2, 6-2), No. 102 Yuta Kikuchi of California (March 25 – 2-6, 6-2, 6-2) and No. 2 Arthur Fery (March 26 – 6-3, 6-1). Hoogmartens also went 14-7 in doubles play. He earned Pac-12 All-Conference First Team recognition, becoming the first UCLA freshman to accomplish that feat since Daniel Kosakowski in 2011.
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