No upsets took place on day one of the Big West Men’s Tennis Tournament as No. 3 seed UC Davis and No. 4 seed UC Irvine won their first round matches.
UC Davis Reaches Semifinals For Fifth Year In A Row
BOX SCORE
The third-seeded UC Davis men’s tennis team advanced to the Big West Tournament semifinals for the fifth straight year with a 4-0 victory over No. 6 seed UC Riverside at Indian Wells Tennis Garden Thursday.
The Aggies (9-17) defeated the Highlanders (16-19) for the second time in six days and set up a date with No. 2 seed Cal Poly in a 3:00 p.m. Friday semifinal.
UC Davis claimed the doubles point to take a 1-0 advantage. David Goulak and Tommy Lam upended Kyle McCann and Filip Engstrom at No. 2 doubles to start things off. Ivan Thamma and Everett Maltby outlasted Anderson Ju and Nabil Abdallah, 6-4, at No. 1 to clinch the point.
In singles, the Aggies won in straight sets at No. 1, No. 4 and No. 6 to polish off the win.
At No. 4, Arjith Jayaraman defeated Gilbert Chung (6-3, 7-5) while Thamma downed Pawel Jankowiak with a 6-2, 6-4 victory at No. 1.
Chethan Swanson finished off the match at No. 6, toppling Engstrom by scores of 7-6 (5), 6-1.
Abdallah and Subramanyan were up on courts No. 3 and No. 5 for UCR but did not finish their matches.
BIG WEST MEN’S TENNIS FIRST ROUND
INDIAN WELLS TENNIS GARDEN
THURSDAY, APRIL 26
(3) UC DAVIS 4, (6) UC RIVERSIDE 0
Doubles
1. Thamma/Maltby (UCD) def. Anderson Ju/Abdallah (UCR) - 6-4
2. Goulak/Lam (UCD) def. McCann/Engstrom (UCR) - 6-3
3. Mitchell Iwahiro/Jayaraman (UCD) vs. Jankowiak/Subramanyan (UCR) - 4-5 (unfinished)
Order of finish: 2, 1
Singles
1. Ivan Thamma (UCD) def. Pawel Jankowiak (UCR) - 6-2, 6-4
2. Everett Maltby (UCD) vs. Kyle McCann (UCR) - 4-6, 6-0, 4-2 (unfinished)
3. David Goulak (UCD) vs. Nabil Abdallah (UCR) - 5-7, 4-4 (unfinished)
4. Arjith Jayaraman (UCD) vs. Gilbert Chung (UCR) - 6-3, 7-5
5. Tommy Lam (UCD) vs. Vignesh Subramanyan (UCR) - 4-6, 2-5 (unfinished)
6. Chethan Swanson (UCD) def. Filip Engstrom (UCR) - 7-6 (5), 6-1
Order of finish: 4, 1, 6
UC Irvine Squeaks Past Hawai‘i
BOX SCORE
No. 4 seed UC Irvine emerged from a near three-hour battle with fifth-seeded Hawai‘i as a 4-0 victor in the first round of the Big West Men’s Tennis Tournament at Indian Wells Tennis Garden Thursday.
The Anteaters (16-11) reached the semifinals for the fourth straight year. They get No. 1 seed UC Santa Barbara on Friday at 3:00 p.m.
The doubles point was hotly contested. UCI won a pair of matches by identical 6-4 scores to earn the point. Daniel Gealer and Luis Lopez knocked off Lucas LaBrunie and Chia-Hua Lu at No. 3, followed by Luca Marquard and Mason Hansen over Aleksa Lazarevic and Fabian Woehrl at No. 2.
UCI won three straight singles matches to win the match, but Hawai‘i (3-15) had taken the other three unfinished contests to three sets when it ended.
The Anteaters went up 2-0 when Marquard toppled Felix Albert. Gealer extended the advantage as he knocked off Lazarevic (6-4, 6-3). Woehrl looked to prolong his match against Hansen at No. 5, but fell in a second set tiebreaker as the final score was 7-5, 7-6 (2).
BIG WEST MEN’S TENNIS FIRST ROUND
INDIAN WELLS TENNIS GARDEN
THURSDAY, APRIL 26
(4) UC IRVINE 4, (5) HAWAI‘I 0
Doubles
1. Bruce Man-Son-Hing/Bajpai (UCI) vs. Albert/Seric (UH) - 5-6 (unfinished)
2. Marquard/Hansen (UCI) def. Lazarevic/Woehrl (UH) - 6-4
3. Gealer/Lopez (UCI) vs. LaBrunie/Chia-Hua Lu (UH) - 6-4
Order of finish: 3, 2
Singles
1. Luis Lopez (UCI) vs. Blaz Seric (UH) - 5-7, 7-6 (5) (unfinished)
2. Luca Marquard (UCI) def. Felix Albert (UH) - 6-2, 6-4
3. Sasha Krasnov (UCI) vs. Lucas LaBrunie (UH) - 6-2, 4-6, 1-2 (unfinished)
4. Daniel Gealer (UCI) def. Aleksa Lazarevic (UH) - 6-4, 6-3
5. Mason Hansen (UCI) def. Fabian Woehrl (UH) - 7-5, 7-6 (2)
6. Vatsal Bajpai (UCI) vs. Tristan Martins (UH) - 6-2, 4-6, 2-4 (unfinished)
Order of finish: 2, 4, 5