UCLA's Fangran Tian Wins NCAA Women's Tennis Singles Championship
To cap off her first year of collegiate tennis, one Bruin ended the season on top.
UCLA women's tennis freshman Fangran Tian won the NCAA singles championships Saturday at the USTA National Campus, securing the Bruins' first individual title since 1995. Tian, who didn't drop a set down in Orlando, defeated Oklahoma's Layne Sleeth 6-4, 6-2 to lock up the crown.
Up 5-4 in the first set, Tian broke Sleeth's serve to close it out and go up 1-0. Tian went up 4-1 to start the second, and she cruised to the 6-2 victory.
Tian arrived in Westwood last fall after a decorated juniors career out of Beijing, China. The freshman owned a 16-2 dual-match singles record on the season, and she was sitting at 28-7 overall.
After winning Pac-12 Freshman/Newcomer of the Year and making the All-Pac-12 First Team, Tian qualified for the NCAA singles tournament as a No. 9-16 seed.
To get to the final, Tian had to face off against USC's Maddy Sieg on Friday.
Sieg broke Tian's serve to open the semifinals match, but Tian bounced back by winning five consecutive games and winning the first set 6-3. Tian then broke Sieg's serve twice to start the second set up 2-0.
After a rain delay moved the rest of the match indoors, Tian broke and held to win the second set 6-2 and punch her ticket to the finals in the process.
Tian became the first Bruin to make the singles championship since UCLA Athletic Hall of Famer Keri Phebus, who made it – and won it – nearly 30 years ago.
Former UCLA All-American and Australian Open finalist Jennifer Brady was in attendance at the finals on Saturday, and she congratulated Tian after the match.
UCLA has now won three Division I national championships this season – two team and one individual. UCLA women's soccer won its title in December, while UCLA men's volleyball got crowned earlier in May.
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PHOTO COURTESY OF MANUELA DAVIES/USTA