TEMPE, Ariz. – Fangran Tian of the UCLA women’s tennis team was named Monday the ITA Rookie of the Year, becoming just the fourth Bruin to garner the national award. She was tabbed the Southwest Regional’s top rookie last week.
Tian joined exclusive company with her latest honor, following in the footsteps of Ena Shibahara (2017), Robin Anderson (2012) and Megan Bradley (2002). Ten UCLA players, counting Tian, had won the regional award.
Tian capped her freshman season atop women’s college tennis, capturing the NCAA Championships singles title at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla. She won six matches in six days without dropping a set and completed her run with a 6-4, 6-2 victory against Layne Sleeth of Oklahoma. Tian’s championship journey also included decisions over a pair of top-30-ranked Pac-12 foes in No. 11 Maddy Sieg of USC and No. 29 Alexandra Yepifanova of Stanford. Tian and Keri Phebus (1995) are the only two Bruins who have raised the NCAA singles trophy.
Tian went 30-7 in singles play during the 2022-23 campaign. The Beijing native won all 15 of her results during the regular-season portion of dual-match play. Tian occupied the No. 1 spot in UCLA’s singles lineup in each of her dual matches. She was tied for the team lead with four match points clinched and was the last player standing in the Bruins’ 4-3 win versus Pepperdine. Tian downed No. 11 Janice Tjen in that contest and went 17-6 overall opposite nationally-ranked foes. Tian was slotted at No. 8 by the ITA in the final singles rankings and No. 1 on the Southwest Regional list.
On the doubles courts, Tian went 16-10. She was 14-6 in dual-match play and prevailed in 11 of her final 13 decisions.
Tian’s bevy of accolades include the Pac-12 Freshman/Newcomer of the Year award. The conference’s coaches also voted her onto the All-Conference First Team. Tian also achieved All-America status for her singles play and is a finalist for the Honda Sport Award for Tennis.
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