Heading into the final stretch of the season, USC men’s tennis was on a roll, picking up four consecutive victories. These wins earned the Trojans a fourth-place finish in the Big Ten standings, qualifying them for the Big Ten Championship tournament in Ojai last weekend.

Winning the conference tournament would guarantee a berth at the NCAA Championships, where USC would compete against the nation’s top teams in an effort to take home its first NCAA title in 12 years.

Since their victory over Oklahoma in the 2014 final, the Trojans haven’t quite reached the same heights in the NCAA Tournament, failing to advance past the quarterfinals in every appearance since.

As the No. 4 seed, No. 19 USC (18-7, 10-3 Big Ten) entered the Big Ten Tournament with plenty of optimism. That confidence would quickly be put to the test in the first round, however, as the Trojans were set to face their crosstown rivals, No. 21 UCLA (17-7, 10-3) — a team unlikely to offer the Trojans any breathing room.

The Trojans and Bruins had already met twice in 2026: Despite USC edging a narrow 4-3 win in a February preseason match, UCLA ultimately prevailed when it mattered most, winning 4-1 in a dominant Bruin showing on March 13.

Unfortunately for the cardinal and gold, the Trojans could not conjure up a response on Thursday. UCLA swiftly defeated USC 4-0 in a shutout victory, crushing Trojan spirits as the Bruins’ dominance only continued to intensify.

USC’s only reprieve — if any — came early on in the battle for the doubles point. Freshman Max Exsted and sophomore Nathan Trouve, undoubtedly the squad’s top-performing partnership this season, entered the duel with a 14-1 record and a nine-match win streak. The pair successfully extended their winning run to 10 against junior Andy Nguyen and senior Aadarsh Tripathi, claiming the set with a convincing 6-3 victory.

From there, it was all downhill for the Trojans: Freshman Branko Djuric and sophomore Connor Church suffered a 6-4 loss, while sophomore Andrin Casanova and graduate student Jack McCarthy were defeated 6-3.

These successive losses handed UCLA the doubles point, giving the Bruins a significant advantage heading into singles play.

The first on the chopping block in singles was Exsted, who, despite being ranked No. 70 nationally, had a rough go of it against No. 87 sophomore Rudy Quan, with the Bruin securing the win in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4.

Sophomore Niels Hoffmann, who had previously clinched the decisive point over redshirt freshman Cassius Chinlund in USC’s preseason victory over UCLA, was unable to repeat the feat in their rematch. 

Chinlund took the early lead, cruising through the opening set 6-2. Hoffmann saved face in the second, showing resilience to force a tiebreaker, but the damage had already been done: He fell 7-5 in the tiebreaker.

With proceedings all but decided, any inkling of hope the Trojans had rested on McCarthy, who was tasked with overcoming Tripathi. However, things quickly got out of hand, as McCarthy was easily bagelled 6-0 in the first set. Just like Hoffmann before him, McCarthy clawed back, winning the second set 6-3. 

After a tightly contested final set, Tripathi eventually emerged victorious 6-4, sealing the win for the Bruins.

Despite their shortcomings in the Big Ten Tournament, USC was selected to compete in the NCAA Championship and is set to face No. 42 Duke (15-13, 6-7 ACC) in the first round in Norman, Oklahoma, on Friday at 9 a.m.