Jan. 27, 2017 Final Stats
RESULTS
MALIBU, CALIF.: The Pepperdine men's tennis team battled hard but eventually fell 4-2 to Tulane, a team receiving votes in the Oracle/ITA Coaches' Poll, this Friday afternoon to open the Cal-hosted ITA Kick-Off Weekend.
The Waves (1-1, 1-0 WCC) were downed in the doubles point to open the afternoon against Tulane (3-0). Pepperdine then won two back-to-back singles matches on courts two and six to tie the match, but opponent wins on courts three, four and one closed out the match.
In doubles, the Waves fell on court three, but rallied with a big 6-3 win on court two as senior Guilherme Hadlich (Balneário Camboriú, Brazil/Colégio Energia) and sophomores Gabriel Sidney (Curitiba, Parana, Brazil/Anglo Americano) defeated Ewan Moore and Luis Erlenbusch.
The Waves and Green Waves then went all out for a head-to-head brawl on court one with senior Stefan Menichella (Santa Barbara, Calif./University HS) and sophomore Jack Van Slyke (Toronto, Ontario, Canada/Laurel Springs HS (Calif.)) duking it out for Pepperdine against Tulane's Sebastian Rey and Shan-Chi Jao. The opposition had the slight-edge in the tie-breaker and won 7-6 (1) to put their team up 1-0 heading into singles.
In singles, Menichella and freshman Dane Esses (Houston, Texas/Memorial HS) made quick work of their opposition. Menichella finished first with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Moore on court two. Esses was soon to follow with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Jao to put the Waves up 2-1 on the day.
The Green Wave had other ideas, however, and with four courts still in action posted wins on courts three and five to gain the one-point edge once again, 3-2.
Hadlich and junior Lautaro Pane (Puerto Madryn, Argentina/SEADEA) were still fighting to close the gap on courts one and three. Hadlich lost his first set 4-6, but won his second 7-5 against 54th-ranked Constantin Schmitz to send the match to a third set. Pane won his first set 7-6 before falling 6-7 in the second to head to a third. Hadlich eventually lost in heartbreaking fashion after a big comeback effort, 5-7. Since the teams were playing to clinch, Pane's match was retired with a 4-5 score in the third set.
Next, the Waves will challenge Cal Poly at 10 a.m. for the second day of the California-hosted ITA Kick-Off Weekend in Berkeley, Calif. Follow @PeppTennis on Facebook and Twitter for immediate updates and go to PepperdineWaves.com for full recaps, results and more.
