LAS VEGAS – The 16th- ranked UCLA women’s tennis team played its final contests before the start of the dual-match season at the 20th Freeman Memorial Championships on the campus of UNLV. In addition to the Bruins and host Rebels, No. 8 Stanford, No. 10 Pepperdine, No. 13 Oklahoma State and No. 18 Florida were in the field.
Elise Wagle had the standout performance for UCLA, winning her singles draw. Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer, Vanessa Ong and Sasha Vagramov each prevailed in consolation play.
Wagle was triumphant in the Venetian Draw, defeating Sophie Williams of Florida and No. 121 Raquel Gonzalez in three-set decisions before taking down Aura Fang of UNLV. Caroline Goldberg picked up a consolation victory against the Rebels’ Nina Zdravkovic.
The Red Rock Draw saw No. 94 Fangran Tian come up short in three-set sets versus a pair of top-50 opponents, but notch a 6-4, 7-5 win opposite No. 72 Sofia Rojas of Oklahoma State.
No. 42 Ava Catanzarite downed Zita Kovacs of the Rebels in her Bellagio Draw opener before falling to No. 21 Savannah Broadus of Pepperdine. No. 46 Kimmi Hance bounced back from an early loss to overcome the Waves’ Bunyawi Thamchaiwat.
No. 120 Lutkemeyer dropped a three-set decision in her Aria Draw opener, but went on to earn straight-set decisions over Rachel Gailis of Florida and Ana Geller of Stanford.
In the Wynn Draw, Ong and Vagramov each fell in her first match. Both logged victories against Salsa Aher of UNLV and Bente Spee of Florida in consolation play, though, earning co-champion recognition.
Doubles action was not completed due to rain, leaving co-winners in each draw. No. 11 Hance and Wagle beat No. 58 Gailis and Spee in the MGM consolation semifinals, while Ong and Vagramov got the better of Pepperdine’s Anna Campana and Carolyn Campana.
The Bruins play their first dual match Jan. 25 versus Loyola Marymount at Los Angeles Tennis Center. First serve is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. PT.
Freeman Memorial Championships
1/13-1/15/2023 at Las Vegas, NV (Fertitta Tennis Complex)
| Singles competition | |
| Red Rock Draw | |
| QF | #44 Alexis Blokhina (Stanford) def. #94 Fangran Tian (UCLA) 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 |
| Red Rock Consolation | |
| CSF | #94 Fangran Tian (UCLA) def. #72 Sofia Rojas (Oklahoma State) 6-4, 7-5 |
| CF | #12… |
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