No. 14 USC Men's Tennis Tops Crosstown Rival No. 22 UCLA

Saturday, February 21

Los Angeles, Calif.

1:00 PM

USC

UCLA

Photo by: Kevin Kim

No. 14 USC Men's Tennis Tops Crosstown Rival No. 22 UCLA

February 21, 2026 | Men's Tennis

Results

Trojans take down Bruins 4-3 in the first of two meetings this spring.

LOS ANGELES - No. 14 USC men's tennis captured a dramatic 4-3 rivalry victory over No. 22 UCLA on Saturday afternoon at Marks Tennis Stadium, rallying late in singles to secure the win in front of a home crowd in Los Angeles.

USC set the tone early by claiming the doubles point. The Trojans duo of Andrin Casanova and Jack McCarthy, ranked No. 39 nationally, earned a 6-4 win at the top position, while Max Exsted and Nathan Trouve matched that 6-4 score on court three to clinch the advantage. USC secured the doubles point with wins on courts one and three.

In singles play, UCLA responded with back-to-back victories to take a 2-1 lead. The Bruins picked up wins at the No. 3 and No. 2 positions, putting the Trojans on the brink.

Andrin Casanova led the comeback with a gritty three-set victory at the No. 5 spot, bouncing back from a first-set loss to defeat Aadarsh Tripathi 1-6, 6-0, 7-5 and even the team score at 2-2. Max Exsted continued the comeback on court four, battling to a 6-3, 7-6 (3) win to put the Trojans back in front.

After dropping the match on center court, USC would turn to sophomore Niels Hoffmann to handle business.

The match ultimately came down to court six, where Hoffmann delivered the clincher. After winning a tight first-set tiebreak, Hoffmann regrouped from a second-set setback and powered through the third to secure a 7-6 (8-6), 1-6, 6-1 victory and seal the 4-3 triumph for the Trojans.

With the win, USC improves to 8-3 overall.