ORLANDO, Fla. – One UCLA women’s tennis standout had her season extended on Day 2 of the NCAA Division I Championships individual tournaments, while a combination of two others saw its own remarkable campaign ended at the USTA National Campus.
Fangran Tian began the day with a 6-4, 6-0 performance opposite Natasha Subhash of Virginia to reach the singles third round as one of the final 16 players standing. Then following a delay of nearly six hours due to lightning and rain, the doubles pair of Kimmi Hance and Elise Wagle was felled by Salma Ewing and Jayci Goldsmith of Texas A&M 6-2, 6-2.
Each of the final five first-set games culminated in a break of serve in the singles match, starting when Tian pushed her lead to 4-2. Subhash was unable to pull even, with Tian breaking for 6-4 and the set. The second was all Tian, who served for 1-0 and never looked back on her way to a 6-0 showing.
Ewing and Goldsmith broke Hance and Wagle for 2-1 in their first set. Two more followed as the Aggies took the final three games. Set 2 then proved to be a mirror image of the opening one, with breaks taking place in the identical games for the 6-2, 6-2 win.
Hance and Wagle each secured All-America status by virtue of the partnership’s No. 5-8 seeding in the tournament. The tandem finished its season 22-8, including a 15-5 mark – all on Court 1 – in dual-match play. Ten of those victories came against nationally-ranked opponents. Hance and Wagle bested Savannah Broadus and Janice Tjen of Pepperdine 7-5, 2-6, 1-0(7) to secure the ITA Southwest Regional Championships doubles title during the fall portion of the schedule.
Tian next faces Alexandra Yepifanova of Stanford Wednesday in the singles draw. A start time has not been announced.
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