MALIBU, Calif. – The San Diego State men's tennis team completed the first day of action at the ITA Southwest Regional Championships, with the doubles team of Victor Castro and Joe Tyler advancing to the round of 16, while Johannes Seeman remains alive in the main singles draw at Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center on the campus of Pepperdine University.
Castro and Tyler joined forces to defeat the UC Santa Barbara pairing of Diego Castillo and Josh Williams by an 8-2 count in the opening round before recording an 8-5 upset over 10th-seeded Daniel De Jonge and Linus Carlsson Halldin of host Pepperdine. With their result, the Aztec tandem will face Arizona's seventh-seeded duo of Carlos Hassey and Colton Smith in the round of 16 on Saturday at 9 a.m.
After receiving a bye in the opening singles round, Seeman, the No. 11 seeded player, advanced in the main draw with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Grand Canyon's Jiri Novak. With his triumph, the Pärnu, Estonia, native will battle USC's Samuel Rubell in the round of 32 on Saturday no earlier than 11:30 a.m.
Earlier, SDSU opened with three singles victories in the round but was unable to advance another competitor in the bracket. Castro, Tyler and Judson Blair each registered a first-round conquest before suffering a reversal of fortune in their ensuing matches.
Blair prevailed in a 6-3, 6-3 decision over UCLA's Max Wild, while Castro survived a tough test against Cal Poly's Colter Smith, 7-5, 6-4. In addition, Tyler notched his fifth win of the fall after pinning a 6-1, 6-3 defeat on Loyola Marymount's Austin Di Guilio.
However, those players in the aforementioned trio had their momentum derailed by seeded opponents in the round of 64, including Blair, who was upended by No. 4 Bradley Frye, 6-1, 6-3, while Castro fell victim another Trojan adversary in No. 23 Peter Makk, 6-2, 6-1. Likewise, Tyler found himself on the wrong side of a 6-4, 6-1 score against No. 30 Pietro Fellin of Pepperdine.
The rest of the Aztec singles delegation came up empty in their first-round encounters, including Alex Scemanenco, who was dealt a 6-3, 6-4 defeat by Cal Poly's Joseph Leather, while Roni Rikkonen dropped a 6-3, 6-1 decision to another Mustang combatant in Gary Vardanyan. Similarly, Jules Auffray was stymied in the main draw by UC Santa Barbara's Kai Brady, 6-1, 6-1. Later in the consolation bracket, Rikkonen was dispatched by Pepperdine's Eric Hadigian, 6-1, 6-2.
On the other hand, Alexander Mandma was the lone player from that group to play three sets in the main draw opening round but ran out of steam against Loyola Marymount's John Bryan Otico, who pulled away for the victory, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1.
SDSU witnessed mixed results in its other main draw doubles matches, posting a pair of wins in the first round before falling short in subsequent matches. The 15th-seeded combo of Mändma and Seeman opened with an 8-3 triumph over UCSB's Stefano Tsorotiotis and Alejandro Vedri but could not replicate that success in the round of 32, dropping an 8-5 decision to Pepperdine's Hadigian and Enrique Luque Rico.
Likewise, the Aztec tandem of Auffray and Rikkonen dispatched the Grand Canyon duo of Mariano Argote and Jiri Novak by an 8-5 count in the opening round but had their advance thwarted by the UC Irvine pairing of Matthew Sah and Thomas Smart, 8-5. The SDSU doubles lineup also included Scemanenco and Blair, who experienced a narrow 8-6 defeat to UC San Diego's Jett Cole and Daniel Traxler.
The ITA Southwest Regional Championships resume on Saturday with one round of doubles and two rounds of singles. Doubles competiton starts at 9 a.m., while singles play commences shortly thereafter.
2021 ITA Southwest Regional Championships
Day One Results (SDSU only)
Oct. 22, 2021
Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center—Malibu, Calif.
Main Draw Doubles
Round of 64
Victor Castro/Joe Tyler (SDSU) def. Diego Castillo/Josh Williams (UCSB) 8-2
[15] Alexander Mandma/Johannes Seeman (SDSU) def. Stefano Tsorotiotis/Alejandro Vedri (UCSB) 8-3
Jules Auffray/Roni Rikkonen (SDSU) def. Mariano Argote/Jiri Novak (GCU) 8-5
Jett Cole/Daniel Traxler (UCSD) def. Judson Blair/Alex Scemanenco (SDSU) 8-6
Round of 32
Victor Castro/Joe Tyler (SDSU) def. [10] Daniel De Jonge/Linus Carlsson Halldin (PEPP) 8-5
Matthew Sah/Thomas Smart (UCI) def. Jules Auffray/Roni Rikkonen (SDSU) 8-3
Eric Hadigian/Enrique Luque Rico (PEPP) def. [15] Alexander Mandma/Johannes Seeman (SDSU) 8-5
Main Draw Singles
Round of 128
Victor Castro (SDSU) def. Colter Smith (CP) 7-5, 6-4
Joe Tyler (SDSU) def. Austin Di Guilio (LMU) 6-1, 6-3
Judson Blair (SDSU) def. Max Wild (UCLA) 6-3 6-3
John Bryan Otico (LMU) def. Alexander Mandma (SDSU) 6-3, 4-6, 6-1
Kai Brady (UCSB) def. Jules Auffray (SDSU) 6-1, 6-1
Joseph Leather (CP) def. Alex Scemanenco (SDSU) 6-3, 6-4
Gary Vardanyan (CP) def. Roni Rikkonen (SDSU) 6-3, 6-1
Round of 64
[11] Johannes Seeman (SDSU) def. Jiri Novak (GCU) 6-3, 6-3
[4] Bradley Frye (USC) def. Judson Blair (SDSU) 6-1, 6-3
[23] Peter Makk (USC) def. Victor Castro (SDSU) 6-2, 6-1
[30] Pietro Fellin (PEPP) def. Joe Tyler (SDSU) 6-4, 6-1
Consolation Draw Singles
Round of 64
[25] Eric Hadigian (PEPP) def. Roni Rikkonen (SDSU) 6-1, 6-2
Aztecs Complete Day One at ITA SW Regionals
