LOS ANGELES – Junior standouts Gianluca Ballotta and Emon van Loben Sels have signed National Letters of Intent to UCLA and will join the men’s tennis team in January, head coach Billy Martin announced.
Ballotta, a native of Lima, Peru, holds a career-high ITF junior ranking of 42. Hailing from Sacramento, Calif., van Loben Sels is a TennisRecruiting.net Blue Chip recruit as one of the top 25 players in his class.
Both signees have posted championship performances in 2022. A veteran of ITF junior events, Ballotta captured two singles titles in Lima and another at the J2 Gladbeck event. He also qualified for the US Open Junior Championships singles and doubles draws. Alongside partner Ethan Schiffman, van Loben Sels took home the Southern California Open Sectional Championships doubles crown from San Diego. The pair previously won the Boys’ 16 championship at the 2021 Easter Bowl, also in San Diego.
Gianluca Ballotta, Lima, Peru (Florida Virtual School)
Attends Florida Virtual School … career-high ITF junior ranking: 42 … qualified for singles, doubles draws at 2022 US Open Junior Championships … advanced to singles, doubles (with partner Nicolas Villalon Valdes) semifinal rounds at ITF J2 Bruchkoebel event in 2022 … made singles semifinal round, doubles (with partner Juan Carlos Prado Angelo) quarterfinal round at ITF J2 Bogota event in 2022 … won singles crown at ITF J2 Gladbeck event in 2022 … captured singles title at ITF J3 Lima event in 2022 … earned singles titles at ITF J4 Lima events in 2021, 2022; with partner Christopher Li, won doubles championship in 2021 … reached singles, doubles (with partner Enrique Pena) semifinal rounds at ITF JB1 Lima event in 2022 … advanced to singles round of 16, doubles quarterfinal (with partner Luis Carlos Alvarez Valdes) round at ITF J1 Porto Alegre (Brasil Juniors Cup) in 2022 … with partner Leanid Boika, advanced to doubles semifinal round at ITF J1 Bradenton (Eddie Herr) event in 2021.
MARTIN ON BALLOTTA: “We are so excited to have Gianluca joining our team, especially in January. I think he’s going to be able to step in and help us on our run to a really good season in 2023. Gianluca is a talented young man who brings a left-handed dimension to our group and feels at home on our courts here at UCLA. He plays singles and doubles very well and has…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at UCLA…