TOURNAMENT CENTRAL

MALIBU, Calif. - The Pepperdine men's tennis team saw both ups and downs this Thursday, as the Waves hosted day one of the annual USTA/ITA Southwest Regional Championship at both Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center and the Crest Courts in Malibu, Calif.

The tournament hosted 97 individual competitors and 45 doubles competitors, with a regional championship on each mind. The championship will run through Monday (October 19), consisting of singles and doubles play, as well as consolation singles and doubles play.

On the doubles side, the Waves started the day with a tough-fought loss by Tom Hill (Birmingham, England/K12 International Academy) and Stefan Menichella (Santa Barbara, Calif./University HS). The duo fell to Arizona's Harry Busby and Jason Jaruvang, 8-6.

Guilherme Galvao (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Colegio Avanço) and Scotland Garapedian (Agoura Hills, Calif./Fusion Academy) also dropped their first doubles competition of the day, falling 8-5 to Gregoir Balenci and Rafael Lira of Grand Canyon University.

Two Waves' partnerships earned a bye to start the tournament and will play the first competitions tomorrow. Guilherme Hadlich (Balneário Camboriú, Brazil/Colégio Energia) and freshman Gabriel Sidney (Curitiba, Parana, Brazil/Anglo Americano) will take on UCLA pair Max Cressy and Austin Rapp in the round of 32. Pedro Iamachkine (Lima, Peru/Nebraska HS) and Lautaro Pane (Puerto Madryn, Argentina/SEADEA) will also compete in doubles tomorrow against Grand Canyon's Alexander Roggenkamp and Felix Schueller.

Despite the slow start, the Waves took off on the singles side. Pane, Hill and Galvao all won their first matches on the singles bracket. Pane defeated Roggenkamp (Grand Canyon) with a 6-4, 6-2 final decision, before falling in the second round to nationally ranked No. 122 Benjamin Donovan of Cal Poly, 6-3, 6-4.

Hill began play with a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Nikolai Storch of Hawai'i, before dropping his second round match in a hard-fought battle to No. 57 Martin Redlicki of UCLA, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2. Galvao picked up his first singles win against Hawai'i opposition Spencer Travallino, 7-5, 7-6 (3), but then lost in the second round to No. 77 Frederik Gelbrich of San Diego State University.

Hadlich, Menichella and Iamachkine all entered the tournament with a bye through the round of 128. Hadlich picked up his first win in the round of 64, 6-4, 6-1, over Arizona's Jason Jaruvang. He will play Cal Poly's Corey Pang tomorrow in the round of 32.

Menichella defeated UCSB's Cody Rakela 6-1, 6-2 to start his singles campaign, and will challenge Hendrik Jebens of San Diego State tomorrow in the round of 32. Iamachkine gave fans a show in his first match-up of the day, putting down Jake DeVine of USC in three sets, 7-5, 1-6, 7-5. He will play in the round of 32 tomorrow against UCSB Anders Holm to continue tournament play.

Logan Hall (Paradise Valley, Ariz./IMG Academy), Sidney and Garapedian also competed on the singles side, both dropping their first matches of the tournament. Hall fell to Jack Jaede of USC, 6-1, 6-1, and Sidney lost 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-1, to UCLA's Rvoto Tachi. Garapedian finished his singles effort with a 6-2, 6-1 loss to USC's David Laser.

Head to the tournament central home page on PepperdineSports.com for frequent updates and the link to the USTA draws. Play will begin again tomorrow (Friday) morning.