NCAA Womens Tennis

Tian Secures Second USTA SoCal Pro Series Sweep

Tian Secures Second USTA SoCal Pro Series Sweep


ROLLING HILLS ESTATES, Calif. – Fangran Tian of the UCLA women’s tennis team, who won the 2023 NCAA singles championship in May, earned her second USTA SoCal Pro Series sweep of the summer Sunday at the Jack Kramer Club.

Tian completed the sweep by beating Jessica Alsola of California in the singles final 6-2, 6-1. Tian teamed with Rinon Okuwaki of Japan to claim the doubles title Saturday.

Tian has participated in three of the four completed USTA SoCal Pro Series events since play began May 29 – two days after she won the NCAA individual crown. She has swept the singles and doubles championships at the San Diego and Los Angeles sites. Tian was also a singles finalist and doubles quarterfinalist at Rancho Santa Fe.

Like her NCAA and San Diego runs, Tian did not drop a set en route to her latest singles title. Seeded fifth in this go-around, Tian downed Australian Zara Larke 6-2, 6-2 in the first round. Qualifier Taylor Cataldi of Wisconsin was bested 6-3, 6-1 in Round 2, setting up Tian’s first matchup of the tournament with a current or former Pac-12 foe. She knocked off second-seeded former Washington State standout Savanna Ly-Nguyen 6-3, 6-3, becoming one of the final four standing. Fellow Bruin Kimmi Hance was next up for Tian, who moved on with a 6-3, 6-1 decision over her third-seeded teammate. Then, with the championship on the line, Tian dropped just three total games to Alsola.

In their doubles opener, Tian and Okuwaki cruised to a 6-0, 6-1 victory against Canadian Pac-12 standouts Reece Carter (Arizona) and Samantha Horwood (Utah). The third-seeded combination of Larke and Lexington Reed went down next in a 6-1, 6-4 result. A 6-3, 6-4 win versus Cataldi and Mary Lewis put Tian and Okuwaki into the final and showdown with the top-seeded team of Mary Fernanda Navarro and Brandy Walker. Tian and Okuwaki came out on top of a 7-5, 6-3 decision for the title – their first as a tandem.

Current UCLA team members Hance (singles and doubles), Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer (singles qualifying and doubles) and Elise Wagle (doubles) were also active at the Kramer Club. Hance made her second singles semifinal round of the 2023 SoCal Pro Series.

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