University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Bruins Advance at ITA Regionals
October 16, 2015 | Men's Tennis
MALIBU, Calif. – The UCLA men's tennis team had a solid opening day of competition at the 2015 USTA/ITA Southwest Regional Championships at Pepperdine University, advancing seven players to Friday's rounds.
The Bruins dominated in singles. In the round of 128, UCLA junior Joseph Di Giulio beat UC Irvine's Luca Marquard, 6-4, 7-6(3), while sophomore Austin Rapp took his match against Rafael Lira of Grand Canyon in straights. After dropping his first set to Pepperdine's Gabriel Sidney, senior Ryoto Tachi won a gutsy second-set tiebreak, 7-2, to force a third set. Tachi jumped out to an early 3-0 lead and never looked back, taking the third set, 6-1.
In Thursday's second round, Tachi cruised past Felix Albert of Hawai'i in straights to advance to the round of 32. After first-round byes, No. 4 Martin Redlicki punched his ticket to Friday's round by downing Pepperdine's Tom Hill in three sets, while No. 13 Karue Sell eased by UCSB's Teague Hamilton, 6-2, 6-0.
In the last match of the day for the Bruins, No. 15 Logan Staggs took it down to the wire. After winning the first set in the tiebreaker, 7-6(2), Staggs dropped the second set, 3-6. The UCLA sophomore went up 3-0 early in the third, but LMU's Joat Farah battled back. Staggs sealed the deal in the third set tiebreaker to advance to Friday's round.
In doubles play, each Bruin pair advanced. Staggs and Tachi downed Igor Kolaric and Spencer Travallino of Hawai'i, 8-6, while Michael Guzman and Rapp defeated UCSB's Chase Masciorini and Oliver Sel, 8-4.
On Friday, Guzman and Rapp will face eighth-seeded Hadlich and Sidney (Pepperdine) while Staggs and Tachi take on second-seeded Gelbrich and Jebens of SDSU in the doubles round of 32. After a first round bye, fourth-seeded Sell and Di Giulio hit the courts against either LMU's Luke Bohuslav/Errol Smith or SDSU's Raul DeLaTorre/Sander Gjoels-Andersen.
USTA/ITA Southwest Regionals – Thursday Results
Oct 15-19, 2015 at Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center
Singles
Round of 128
Justin Agbayani (UC Irvine) def. Guzman (UCLA), 6-1, 6-3
DiGiulio (UCLA) def. Marquard (UC Irvine), 6-3, 7-6(2)
Rapp (UCLA) def. Lira (Grand Canyon), 6-2, 6-0
Tachi (UCLA) def. Sidney (Pepperdine), 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-1
Round of 64
No. 15 Staggs (UCLA) def. Farah (LMU), 7-6(2), 3-6, 7-6(4)
No. 4 Redlicki (UCLA) def. Hill (Pepperdine), 3-6, 6-2, 6-2
No. 13 Sell (UCLA) def. Hamilton (UCSB), 6-2, 6-0
Smith (USC) def. Di Giulio (UCLA), 6-3, 6-7(3), 7-6(5)
De Vroome (USC) def. Rapp (UCLA), 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
Tachi (UCLA) def. Albert (Hawaii), 6-2, 6-0
Doubles
Round of 64
Guzman/Rapp (UCLA) def. Masciorini/Sec (UCSB), 8-4
Staggs/Tachi (UCLA) def. Kolaric/Travallino (Hawaii), 8-6
