SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The UC Santa Barbara men's tennis program has signed two players to join the Gaucho program for the 2026-27 season, head coach Blake Muller announced Thursday. International athletes Vicente Freda and Felipe Vazquez have both signed and will officially become Gauchos.
 
Vicente Freda hails from Porto Alegre, Brazil, and was named Athlete of the Year at his local club, Associação Leopoldina Juvenil. Freda has represented the Brazilian National Team at international competitions and training weeks, along with ranking as high as No. 2 in the Brazilian national rankings. Lastly, Freda is a two-time ITF singles champion and four time doubles champion.
 
"I chose UCSB because it offers the perfect balance between academics, tennis and quality of life," explains Freda. "The program allows me to compete at a high level while pursuing a strong academic education and living in one of the best places in the world."
 
Felipe Vazquez hails from Montevideo, Uruguay, and has reached a career-high ITF rank of 97 and ATP rank of 1764. Vazquez has won the J60 East Point and J60 San Pablo while being a finalist for the J100 Mendoza.
 
"I chose UCSB because I liked the combination of their academic prestige, tennis team, their coaches, and finally their location," said Vazquez.