MALIBU, Calif. – The San Diego State men's tennis team competed in 17 matches, 14 singles and three doubles on the first day of the ITA Southwest Regional Championships on the campus of Pepperdine University with the Scarlet and Black winning five of the singles matches and one of the doubles matches on Thursday.
Nebraska transfer Andre Saleh faced Grand Canyon's Loic Van Zeggelaar in the first round and earned a 7-5, 6-4 victory. Saleh played another hard-fought match in the second round, falling 7-6 (7-1), 6-3 to Hawai'i's Axel Labrunie.
Chikaya Sato played Cal Poly's Fernando Fonseca in his opening match, earning a consistent 6-4, 6-4 win over the Mustang. He did not fare as well in his next matchup, as he was bested by Tim Zeitvogel, of host Pepperdine.
Winner of three of his last four matches, Bora Sengul kept his momentum going with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Grand Canyon's William Alsterback in the first round. His streak came to an end against UCLA's Giacomo Revelli in the second round, as it was the Bruin who finished on top, 6-4, 6-2.
Eugenio Gonzalez Fitzmaurice took care of business in the first round, beating UC Santa Barbara's Pierre Boullenger 7-6 (9-7), 6-2. Gonzalez Fitzmaurice fell in the second round at the hands of UC Irvine's Noah Zamora.
One of two returners from last season's squad, Alexander Mandma faced Emin Torlic, of Loyola Marymount, and battled his way to a 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 win. In his next match, he played UC Santa Barbara's Phillip Jordan, but could not beat the Gaucho, losing 6-3, 6-1.
Fresh off a win over the No. 46-ranked player in the nation last weekend, Johannes Seeman fell to Cal Poly's Joseph Leather 6-1, 6-0. Seeman will look to rebound against UC Santa Barbara's Diego Castillo in the consolation bracket.
The team's co-leader in wins, Mathieu Josserand put up a fight in his first set, but ran out of steam, falling to UCLA's Jeffrey Fradkin 6-4, 6-1. In the consolation bracket, he will go up against Zachary Pellouchoud, of Cal Poly.
Liam Spiers also faced a PAC-12 opponent, doing battle with Arizona State's Nicola Cigna, but was bested 6-1, 6-2. Spiers will play Loyola Marymount's Arthur Craig Pantino in the consolation bracket.
In his first action in four weeks, Lenny Melzer competed against Paolo Rosati, of Grand Canyon, but was bested 6-2, 6-0. Melzer will draw Guillaume Tattevin, of Hawai'i in the consolation bracket.
After spending last season as partners at Penn State, Sato and Sengul reunited to face Loyola Marymount's John Bryan Otico and Arthur Craig Pantino. With an 8-5 victory, the Aztec pairing earned a second-round matchup with tenth seeded Wojtek Marek and Samuel Rubell from Southern California.
Spiers and Saleh paired up to play Hawai'i's Andy Hernandez and Kilian Maitre but were bested 8-2 by the Rainbow Warrior duo.
Gonzalez Fitzmaurice teamed up with Josserand and also faced a pair of Rainbow Warriors. The Aztecs fell 8-4 to Andre Ilagan and Karl Collins.
You can follow the action on the ITA website: https://bit.ly/3VKIEZg
Live Streams are also available: https://bit.ly/2PQow4V
The ITA Southwest Regional Championships continue tomorrow, Friday Oct. 21.
ITA Southwest Regional Championships
Malibu, Calif.
Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center, Pepperdine University
San Diego State's Day One Results
Andre Saleh (SDSU) def. Loic Van Zeggelaar (GCU) 7-5, 6-4
Axel Labrunie (Hawai'i) def. Andre Saleh (SDSU) 7-6 (7-1), 6-3
Chikaya Sato (SDSU) def. Fernando Fonseca (Cal Poly) 6-4, 6-4
Tim Zeitvogel (Pepperdine) def. Chikaya Sato (SDSU) 6-3, 6-2
Joseph Leather (Cal Poly) def. Johannes Seeman (SDSU) 6-1, 6-0
Jeffrey Fradkin (UCLA) def. Mathieu Josserand (SDSU) 6-4, 6-1
Nicola Cigna (ASU) def. Liam Spiers (SDSU) 6-1, 6-2
Bora Sengul (SDSU) def. William Alsterback (GCU) 6-4, 6-3
Giacomo Revelli (UCLA) def. Bora Sengul (SDSU) 6-4, 6-2
Eugenio Gonzalez Fitzmaurice (SDSU) def. Pierre Boullenger (UCSB) 7-6 (9-7), 6-2
Noah Zamora (UCI) def. Eugenio Gonzalez Fitzmaurice (SDSU) 6-4, 6-4
Alexander Mandma (SDSU) def. Emin Torlic (LMU) 7-6 (7-5), 6-3
Phillip Jordan (UCSB) def. Alexander Mandma (SDSU) 6-3, 6-1
Paolo Rosati (GCU) def. Lenny Melzer (SDSU) 6-2, 6-0
Hernandez/Maitre (Hawai'i) def. Spiers/Saleh (SDSU) 8-2
Ilagan/Collins (Hawai'i) def. Gonzalez Fitzmaurice/Josserand (SDSU) 8-4
Sato/Sengul (SDSU) def. Otico/Pantino (LMU) 8-5