Historic Ojai Tennis Tournament Welcomes the Big Ten
Conference Men’s Teams This Week

One of the most celebrated weeks in American tennis has arrived. 

The 124th edition of the Ojai Tennis Tournament begins this week, bringing a historic first as the tournament welcomes the Big Ten Conference Men’s Tennis Championship to Libbey Park and venues throughout the Ojai Valley and West Ventura County. 

Founded in 1896, The Ojai has long stood as one of the sport’s most treasured traditions, blending elite competition with small town charm each spring. This year, that tradition meets a new era as the top 10 men’s teams from the Big Ten compete for the conference title in Southern California.

Headlining the field are defending champion UCLA Bruins, crosstown rival USC Trojans, regular season co-champions Michigan State Spartans and national powerhouse Ohio State Buckeyes, ranked No. 3 in the country.

Thursday’s marquee quarterfinal features another chapter in the storied UCLA v. USC rivalry as the No. 19 Trojans (18-6) face the No. 21 Bruins (16-6) at 12 noon. The semifinals are scheduled for Friday at 12 noon and 3 p.m., and the finals are set for 5 p.m. under the lights at historic Libbey Park. The first round play-in and quarterfinals schedule is as follows:

Big Ten Men’s Championship Schedule 

First Round: Wednesday, April 22 

11 a.m. – No. 9 Indiana (10-12) vs. No. 8 Oregon (14-10)

2 p.m. – No. 10 Nebraska (11-13) vs. No. 7 Michigan (13-9)

Quarterfinals: Thursday, April 23

9 a.m. – Match 1 winner vs. No. 1 Michigan State (15-8)  

12 p.m. – No. 5 UCLA (16-6) vs. No. 4 USC (18-6)

3 p.m. – Match 2 winner vs. No. 2 Ohio State (27-3) 

6 p.m. – No. 6 Wisconsin (17-6) vs. No. 3 Illinois (21-6)

Men’s and Women’s Open

Once again, the Open division will hand out a total of $20,000 in prize money equally to the men and women in singles and doubles. Main draw action takes place Thursday and Friday at the Ojai Valley Inn before moving to Libbey Park on Saturday and Sunday for championship weekend. Qualifying beings on Tuesday at the Ojai Athletic Club.

 Former WTA player and current San Diego-based teaching professional Chanel Simmonds has dominated the women’s event the past few years winning singles titles in 2022, 2023, and 2024 before falling in last year’s final in three sets. Other top seeds include former UC-Santa Barbara star Shakhnoza Khatamova and University of San Diego alum Jordyn McBride, who will pair up with her mother and former Ojai Open champion Dina McBride, and Lucia Quiterio from Portugal. 

The top-seeded men include Croatian Matija Pecotic, former Northern California junior No. 1 and University of California, Berkeley alum Theo Dean, Weil Tennis Academy product Emmett Potter, reigning doubles champion and singles finalist and Pepperdine University alum Stefan Menichella, Yale Bulldogs alum Renaud Lefevre of Los Angeles, along with Detroit, Michigan native Joel Kielbowicz.

California Community College State Championship

The CCCAA Dual State Championships will take place on Wednesday at Ventura College, featuring a pair of exciting matchups. In the women’s final at 1 p.m., the undefeated No. 1 seeds from each region — Sierra College (11-0) from the north and Los Angeles Mission College (24-0) from the south — will battle for the state title.

The men’s final will start the day at 10 a.m. with a repeat of last year’s championship as defending champion and No. 2 seed Irvine Valley (13-1) takes on No. 1 Foothill (9-3) from the north. The individuals begin Thursday all over West Ventura County with the finals Sunday at Libbey Park. 

For brackets and scores, click HERE.

Boys’ CIF Division

The Boys’ CIF division starts on Thursday at Thacher School and various sites around Ojai. Semifinals are set for Saturday at 8 a.m., followed by finals at 1 p.m. at Libbey Park. 

Top seeds are as follows: 

SINGLES: Matteo Huarte (Mater Dei); Brayden Tallakson (Woodbridge); Oskar Rouse (University City-SD); JiHyuk Im (University-Irvine; Nicholas Lilov (Point Loma); Rohan Grewal (Beckman); Ivan Pflueger (Corona Del Mar); Aiden Mueller (Thousand Oaks); Nikhil Bommaiah (Tustin); Kimi Basamakov (Westlake); Kensho Ford (Palisades); Connor Yang – Harvard Westlake; Dylan Lin – Oak Park; Kiran Spurling – Loyola; Zach Xiaoke Chen – Chadwick; Kamden Harden – Long Beach Poly

DOUBLES: Colin Bringas/Edward Feuer (Peninsula); DJ Buchfeller/Everett Sommerville (Tustin); Alejandro Hill/David Tran (Marina); Aaron Chung/Chase Klugo (Harvard Westlake); Aditya Khanna/Chasen Wang (Canyon Crest Academy); Arnon Jittathai/Luke Donar (Rancho Bernardo); Nicholas Hung/Connor Chu (Palos Verdes); Langston Walter-Wu/Daniel Zhu (University-Irvine).

Junior Division Top Seeds

Tournament history will also be made in the junior divisions as a Boys’ 12s division has been added for the first time. Among the favorites is James Borchard from Thousand Oaks, one of the top age-group players in the nation and last year’s Easter Bowl Boys’ 12s singles champion. Ryland Mock from Los Angeles is No. 2. On the girls’ side, Carlota Tarazaga Diaz from Irvine is top-seeded with Misha Kataria from Fremont No. 2.

Other top-seeded players include:

BOYS’ 14s: Eli Villaroman (Santa Ana), Smith Thayne (Newbury Park); GIRLS’ 14s: Eva Deng (Ojai), Charlotte Ackad (San Clemente); BOYS’ 16s: Chance Rozpedski, Palm Desert; Ciaran Tober-Bridges (Goleta); GIRLS’ 16s: Yuktaa Pandit (Fresno), Olivia Gallaway, Lafayette; GIRLS’ 18s: Sophia Lee (Eastvale), Chloe Egerer (Moorpark).

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From college stars and seasoned pros to CIF standouts and future champions, another memorable week awaits in Ojai.

For more information, visit TheOjai.net and follow The Ojai on Facebook (@TheOjaiTennisTournament), Instagram (@OjaiTennis), and Twitter (@TheOjai).