SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State duo of Johannes Seeman and Victor Castro posted the three victories this past weekend to lead the Aztec men's tennis delegation at the Pacific Coast Doubles Championships, held at La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club.
Seeman and Castro, who received one of the No. 9 seeds for the tournament, opened with a pair wins on Friday, defeating the Villanova duo of Matthew Jones and Joshua Robinson, 4-1, 4-2, before recording another triumph in the round of 64 over Pomona-Pitzer's Mukund Madabhushi and Charles Stark, 5-4(3), 4-2.
On Saturday, Seeman and Castro continued their winning ways with an impressive 4-1, 4-1 conquest of Advik Mareedu and Warren Pham in the round of 32. However, the SDSU tandem had their run through the bracket stymied in the round of 16, but not without a fight, falling in three sets to USC's Lodewijk Weststrate and Peter Makk, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1.
Two other duos featuring Aztec competitors emerged victorious in their opening matches before they were eliminated in the round of 64. Roni Rikkonen and Andre Saleh, who were also seeded ninth entering the weekend, prevailed over Boston College's Shreekar Eedara and Connor McDonald on Friday in straight sets, 4-1, 5-3, but fell short in a super-tiebreaker later in the day to Jiaxi Ma and Eita Ishikawa, 5-4(4), 3-5, 1-0 (7-3).
Meanwhile, SDSU's Judson Blair wound up teaming with UC Davis alum Alec Adamson at the tournament, recording a 4-1, 4-2 decision over the father-son duo of Eddie Barretto and Paul Barretto, but experienced a similar fate in the second round, dropping a narrow super-tiebreaker to Sebastian Bader and Eric Tseng, 4-2, 1-4, 1-0 (8-6).
Rounding out the Aztec contingent was Alexander Mandma and Joe Tyler, who were edged by Villanova's William Gatti and Ryan Nguyen in another nail-biter on Thursday, 4-1, 2-4, 1-0(9-7), before rebounding in a consolation match on Friday with a straight-set victory over Marco Alvarez and Matthew Rowe, 4-1, 5-4(3).
The second-oldest tennis event in the United States, the Pacific Coast Men's Doubles Championships featured tandems from several college programs, including nationally ranked teams in No. 8 Stanford, No. 10 USC, No. 19 Pepperdine, No. 38 California and No. 59 UCLA.
In addition to the Aztecs and their aforementioned opponents, the field included competitors from such schools as Ball State, Cal Lutheran, Pomona-Pitzer, San Diego Christian, UC San Diego and UNLV, among others.
Past winners feature such notables as Jack Kramer, Ted Schroeder, Bobby Riggs, Pancho Segura, Don Budge, Tony Trabert, Stan Smith, Bob Lutz, Arthur Ashe, Dennis Ralston, John McEnroe and many other world-class champions.
San Diego State returns to dual-match competition this weekend with a pair of clashes at home against Penn (March 12) and Air Force (March 13), the latter of which opens Mountain West play for the Scarlet and Black.
Pacific Coast Doubles Championships
La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club
La Jolla, Calif.
Round of 128
Judson Blair (SDSU)/Alec Adamson def. Eddie Barretto/Paul Barretto 4-1, 4-2
[9] Victor Castro/Johannes Seeman (SDSU) def. Matthew Jones/Joshua Robinson (VILL) 4-1, 4-2
[9] Roni Rikkonen/Andre Saleh (SDSU) def. Shreekar Eedara/Connor McDonald (BC) 4-1, 5-3
William Gatti/Ryan Nguyen (VILL) def. Alexander Mandma/Joe Tyler (SDSU) 4-1, 2-4, 1-0 (9-7)
Round of 64
Victor Castro/Johannes Seeman (SDSU) def. Mukund Madabhushi/Charles Stark (Pomona-Pitzer) 5-4(3), 4-2
Jiaxi Ma/Eita Ishikawa def. Roni Rikkonen/Andre Saleh (SDSU) 5-4(4), 3-5, 1-0 (7-3)
Sebastian Bader/Eric Tseng def. Judson Blair (SDSU)/Alec Adamson 4-2, 1-4, 1-0 (8-6)
Round of 32
Victor Castro/Johannes Seeman (SDSU) def. Advik Mareedu/Warren Pham 4-1, 4-1
Round of 16
Lodewijk Weststrate/Peter Makk (USC) def. Victor Castro/Johannes Seeman (SDSU) 3-6, 6-4, 6-1
Consolation Round of 64
Alexander Mandma/Joe Tyler (SDSU) def. Marco Alvarez/Matthew Rowe 4-1, 5-4(3)
Consolation Round of 32
Matthew Feng/Nils Skattum (Pomona-Pitzer) def. Alexander Mandma/Joe Tyler (SDSU) w/o (inj.)
Aztec Duo Wins Three Matches at Pac Coast Doubles
