Last week, USC men’s tennis traveled west to compete in Malibu, while the women’s squad went north to Redding. The men’s squad produced two singles quarterfinalists at the 2026 Intercollegiate Tennis Association Division I Men’s Southwest Regional Championship, while the women’s squad’s singles appearances at the International Tennis Federation Redding W35 ended in the opening round.

Juniors Nathan Trouve and Andrin Casanova led the Trojans in Malibu, reaching the quarterfinals through different parts of the bracket. Trouve won three consecutive three-set matches, while Casanova advanced without dropping a single set. Their runs ended on Sunday, both falling to Pepperdine University opponents.

Trouve’s early rounds repeatedly came down to a deciding set. The tournament’s third seed, he recovered from losing the opening set, but his run ended with a 7-5, 6-0 quarterfinal loss to Pepperdine junior Lasse Poertner.

Trouve’s first match offered the clearest contrast between a close start and a decisive finish. Against Loyola Marymount University graduate student Max Wuelfing, Trouve split two tiebreak sets before winning out in the third, advancing 6-7 (5), 7-6 (6), 6-0.  

The next round came with another three-set test versus Arizona State freshman Jan Klimas. Trouve won 7-6 (2), 4-6, 6-2, then recovered from an opening-set loss against Hawaii senior Söeren Grandke to advance 6-7 (1), 6-4, 6-2. Across those three victories, Trouve gave up just four games in deciding sets.  

This result shows massive improvement from Trouve this season. The ITA All-American Championship – the team’s first tournament of the season – was held Sept. 23-27 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. There, Trouve was eliminated in the round of 32, falling to Poland’s Tomasz Berkieta 6-4, 6-4. 

Casanova needed only four sets to complete his opening two victories. He beat UC Irvine freshman Dev Mangat 7-5, 6-3, and Cal Poly sophomore Jovan Lubbe 6-0, 6-3 in dominant fashion. As the No. 9 seed coming into the tournament, he held his opponents to under four games won in all but one of the sets.  

A walkover against UCLA sophomore Rudy Quan sent Casanova into the quarterfinals without another match on court. His run was concluded by junior David Fix of Pepperdine at 6-3, 6-4, leaving both USC players outside of the final four. 

The regional tournament offered more than a title: Both singles finalists receive automatic entry to November’s NCAA individual championships. They would join sophomore Max Exsted who secured his spot in the NCAA singles championships during the All-American Championships. 

Juniors Connor Church and Matteo Morazzi also picked up opening-round singles wins for the Trojans. Church defeated University of San Diego freshman Nico Baena 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, while Morazzi took down LMU sophomore Emil Kindhult 6-2, 7-6 (3). Both Trojans exited in the second round. Junior Niels Hoffmann fell in his opener to UCLA senior Andy Nguyen in three. 

Church and Trouve paired up in doubles for USC. They received a first-round bye, but went on to lose their first match 8-7 (1) to LMU’s junior Cesar Cruz and Kindhult in the round of 32.

Up north in Redding, senior Immi Haddad contributed to the women’s team, pushing her first-round singles match to a deciding set. Entering the main draw as a qualifier, Haddad lost to Türkiye’s Duru Soke 6-2, 3-6, 6-4. 

Sophomore Krisha Mahendran’s singles appearance ended in retirement against the United States’ Jenna DeFalco while trailing 6-1, 2-0. Mahendran also entered doubles with the U.S.’s Maria Aytoyan, but their opening matchup against China’s Lan Mi and UC Berkeley senior Mao Mushika ended in a walkover. 

The Trojan women started play in the ITF Bakersfield W35 Monday and they’ll continue until Sunday. Meanwhile, the men’s team next has the SoCal Intercollegiates in San Diego and the ITA Masters Championships in Rome, Georgia, from Nov. 5 to 8.