122nd Pacific Coast Doubles Championship on Waves' Slate this Weekend
3/3/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
March 3, 2011
Complete Release in PDF Format 
MALIBU, Calif. - The #15 Pepperdine men's tennis team (9-2), fresh off a team tournament win at the Blue Gray National Tennis Classic, plays this weekend at an equally challenging and history-rich tournament: The 122nd Pacific Coast Doubles Championship in La Jolla, Calif. Five doubles pairs representing the Waves will be competing against the West Coast's finest on Mar. 4-6.
WHAT IS THE PCDC? - The Pacific Coast Doubles Championship is the second-oldest tennis event in the United States and has a rich tournament history. First held in 1890 at The Hotel Del Monte in Monterey, California, the event was created to promote the sale of real estate on the Monterey peninsula. The original concept pitted the best players from the East versus those from the West. This coast-to-coast rivalry was the inspiration for the Davis Cup. Past Winners include Jack Kramer, Ted Schroeder, Bobby Riggs, Pancho Segura, Don Budge, Tony Trabert, Stan Smith, Bob Lutz, Arthur Ashe, Dennis Ralston, and John McEnroe and many other world-class champions.
LOOKING BACK - The Waves defeated Alabama, Notre Dame and Auburn, all by a score of 4-0, to win the team title at the Blue Gray National Tennis Classic. Sebastian Fanselow was named the tournament's MVP and is the second Wave to earn the honor in the event's 60-year history.
TWITTER - Be sure to follow Pepperdine tennis on Twitter @PeppTennis. Members of the team will be providing exclusive updates to followers about match results as well as other men's tennis team happenings.
LOOKING AHEAD - The Waves host Hawai'i on Tues., March 8, before welcoming Duke and California on Friday and Sunday, respectively.
ON THE WEB - Full results and recaps can also be found on the official website (www.PepperdineSports.com) of the Waves at the conclusion of each match. Follow Pepperdine on Twitter at PeppSports and PeppTennis for all the latest updates.
THE BRACKET - The Pacific Coast Doubles Championships features nearly 100 doubles pairs hailing from around the globe. Full brackets and match updates can be found at: http://tennislink.usta.com/Tournaments/Draws/EventDraw.aspx?T=95069&E=1
ALL IN THE FAMILY - At least four doubles pairs are made up of different family member combinations including Pepperdine's own Alejandro and Alfredo Moreno (Queretaro, Mexico). The brothers have not played together in Pepperdine uniform this season. Another family tandem includes father-son combo Peter L. and Riley Smith (Los Alamitos, Calif.) Peter spent five seasons (1998-2002) as the Waves' head coach.
THE PAIRINGS - Sebastian Fanselow and Jenson Turner received a first round bye and play a qualifying pair at 10:30 a.m. on Friday. Stuart Keplar and Daniel Moss face Michael Grant and Peter Lucassen (USC) at 8 a.m. Friday morning. Also at 8 a.m., Mousheg Hovhannisyan and David Sofaer play Christian Saravia and Isamu Tachibana (Rice). Hugh Clarke and Finn Tearney, ranked #30 in the Campbell/ITA doubles poll, earned a free pass to the round of 64 and play at 10 a.m., while Alejandro and Alfredo Moreno take on John Drosick and David R. Shaheen (Villanova) at 9:30 a.m.
STREAKING - Sebastian Fanselow and Jenson Turner are a team-best 8-0 in doubles this dual season and have only lost once as a pair (in October at the ITA Southwest Regional) Hugh Clarke and Finn Tearney are on a two-match win streak and three-match unbeaten streak in doubles.
CAMPBELL/ITA RANKINGS — The Waves are currently listed at #15 in the Campbell/ITA collegiate rankings. Four singles players and two doubles team also tout an individual ranking.
| 2010-11 Rankings | Preseason | 1/4 | 1/25 | 2/3 | 2/8 | 2/14 | 2/22 | 3/1 |
| Team | n/a | 21 | 21 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 21 | 15 |
| Sebastian Fanselow | 40 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 20 | 20 | 17 |
| Alex Llompart | 40 | 40 | 40 | 40 | 50 | 50 | 48 | |
| Finn Tearney | 113 | 112 | 112 | 112 | 112 | 47 | 47 | 58 |
| Jenson Turner | 122 | |||||||
| Llompart/Tearney | 26 | |||||||
| Clark/Tearney | 35 | 35 | 35 | 35 | 55 | 55 | 30 | |
| Fanselow/Turner | 61 | 61 | ||||||
| Llompart/Alf. Moreno | 68 |
WCC PLAYER OF THE MONTH - Pepperdine's success on the court routinely brings in honors and awards. So far this season, the Waves have earned Player of the Month recognition on four occasions
| Month | Singles | Doubles |
| September | Finn Tearney/Hugh Clarke (co) | |
| October | Sebastian Fanselow | Finn Tearney/Alex Llompart (co) |
| November | Alex Llompart/Hugh Clark |
WCC PRESEASON POLL - The Pepperdine men's tennis team was chosen to finish first in the 2011 West Coast Conference preseason poll, as voted on by the conference coaches. Pepperdine and San Diego claimed five of the six singles players on the preseason all-conference team, while Santa Clara took the remaining spot. Alex Llompart, Sebastian Fanselow and Finn Tearney were all selected to the preseason all-conference team.
KNOW THE RULES - Dual matches will be a contest for the best-of-seven team points. The dual begins with three doubles matches consisting of an eight-game pro set. The team that wins two of these three matches will enter the singles competition with one of seven points. After a brief intermission, six singles matches will be played. Each singles match will be the best of three sets and worth one point towards the team competition. The overall dual match is decided when one team secures four total points. Matches in progress when the doubles point or dual match is clinched will be played to completion.
FALL RECAP - The Waves had a successful tournament season, collectively posting a 67-35 singles record while going 18-18 in doubles. Sebastian Fanselow, who went 11-2 overall, won an impressive six singles matches in a row to win the title at the 2010 ITA Southwest Regional Championship. The sophomore came back from a 5-1 deficit in the first set of the championship match to win in the tiebreaker and roll to a straight-set victory over top seeded Daniel Nguyen of USC. Fanselow advanced to the Round of 16 at the event's national championship in Flushing, N.Y. a few weeks later. At the ITA/D'Novo All-American Championships in October, Finn Tearney and Fanselow fought their way through the qualifying draw to both earn a bid to the singles main draw. This marks the first time the Waves have seen two players enter the main event by way of the qualifying bracket.
WHO'S BACK — The Waves have nine letterwinners back from the 2009-10 squad including WCC Freshman of the Year and All-WCC singles player Sebastian Fanselow. All-WCC singles selections Alex Llompart (second team), Mousheg Hovhannisyan (honorable mention) and Finn Tearney (honorable mention) also return, as well as Hugh Clarke, an All-WCC doubles honoree.
WHO'S NEW — The Waves welcome Australian David Sofaer to the roster this season. Sofaer was a gold medalist at the 2009 Maccabiah Games in singles and was a silver medalist in doubles. In January, Pepperdine welcomed Alfredo Moreno - brother of senior Alejandro - to the Pepperdine family. The younger Moreno achieved a top ranking in Mexico and reached as high as #82 in the International Tennis Federation junior rankings.
Adam Steinberg — Now in his ninth season as head coach of the Waves, Adam Steinberg enters the 2010 season with a career record of 306-140 (.686) including a 176-61 (.743) mark at Pepperdine. Since setting foot on the Malibu campus in 2003, Steinberg has captured eight-straight WCC conference championships, eight-consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament, and an NCAA Championship crown in 2006. He has tutored 14 Waves to All-American status, and has been named WCC Coach of the Year five times. Prior to coming to Pepperdine, Steinberg served as the head coach at Alabama and St. John's for five seasons apiece.
2010 RECAP — It was another solid year for the Pepperdine men's tennis team. The squad collected its 20th consecutive West Coast Conference championships, and 41st overall. For the 21st year in a row, the Waves battled in the NCAA tournament defeating Hawaii before bowing out to Stanford in the second round. In the singles draw, Bassam Beidas advanced to the Round of 16 and earned All-American honors for the third time in his career.
TENNIS HISTORY — The Pepperdine men's tennis program is synonymous with the word excellence, as the Waves are a perennial national power. The Waves have advanced to postseason play 35 times in 37 seasons, including an NCAA championship in 2006. Within the WCC, Pepperdine has dominated the competition, winning 41 conference championships since 1958.
ABOUT PEPPERDINE — Pepperdine boasts a one-of-a-kind athletic department with unprecedented success for a school of its size. The Waves have won a total of nine NCAA championships in five different men's sports — one of just 14 schools to have accomplished this feat. Of the 14, Pepperdine is the only non-BCS school and has by far the smallest enrollment. The majority of Pepperdine's teams are ranked nationally year after year and compete for conference and national titles.
