Urbana, Ill. - UCLA tennis players opened up play in the individual portion of this year's NCAA Championships on Wednesday, as the NCAA Singles Draw kicked off at the University of Illinois' Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex.
UCLA had two players advance to the second on the men's side, with Marcos Giron and Dennis Novikov both registering straight-set wins. Giron knocked off fifth-seeded Romaine Bogaerts of Mississippi State, 6-3, 7-6(2). He will face Michael Redlicki of Duke in the second round on Thursday. Novikov downed UNC Wilmington's Rafael Aita, 7-6(9), 6-2, setting up a second-round showdown with seventh-seeded Peter Kobelt of Ohio State. Kobelt recently lost to Giron in the deciding singles match in the Bruins' 4-3 victory over the Buckeyes in the semifinals of the NCAA Team Championships. Junior Adrien Puget was beaten in his opening round singles match on Wednesday, falling to hometown favorite Jared Hiltzik of Illinois, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4.
On the women's side, third-seeded Robin Anderson advanced to the second round with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Nadia Ravita of Kentucky. Anderson meets Santa Clara's Katie Le on Thursday morning. Freshman Kyle McPhillps had little trouble in her first round match, beating Maria Belaya of William & Mary, 6-1, 6-1. McPhillips is scheduled to face 9-16 seed Petra Niedermayerova in the next round.
The Bruin men do not have any players in the doubles draw, however Anderson and teammate Skylar Morton will be representing UCLA on the women's side. The Bruin duo takes on Michigan's Emina Bektas and Brooke Bolender on Tuesday. The two teams faced off on Friday during the team tournament, with Bektas and Bolender winning 8-6.
