MALIBU, Calif. – The Pepperdine men's tennis team had a promising start to the ITA Southwest Regionals on Thursday. Freshman Enrique Luque Rico reached the round of 32 after a solid win against Lucas Grego of Grand Canyon
 
RESULTS
SINGLES
First Round
Roman Shenkiryk (Cal Poly) def. Felipe Galvao (PEPP) – 6-4, 7-5
Tristan Martin (Hawaii) def. Scotland Garapedian (PEPP) – 6-4, 7-6 (9)
Matias Sborowitz (PEPP) def. Arnaud Restifo (SDSU) – 7-5, 6-7 (9), 6-2
Nicholas Baez (PEPP) def. Eric Kenneth (Hawaii) – 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
 
Round of 64
Enrique Luque Rico (PEPP) def. Lucas Grego (GCU) – 6-4, 6-2
Gui Osorio (USD) def. Pawel Jankowiak (PEPP) – 6-0, 6-1
Logan Smith (USC) def. Matias Sborowitz (PEPP) – 7-5, 6-7 (9), 6-2
Lorenzo Fucile (GCU) def. Nicholas Baez (PEPP) – 6-0, 6-1
 
FRIDAY MATCHES
SINGLES
R32: Enrique Luque Rico (PEPP) vs. Jake Sands (USC) – 10:00 am
Consolation: Scotland Garapedian (PEPP) vs. Antoine Barthe (UC Irvine) – 11:45 am
DOUBLES
Scotland Garapedian/Felipe Galvao (PEPP) vs. Anders Holm/Nicolas Moreno de Alboran (UCSB) – 9:00 am
DAY 1 RECAP
In doubles, the Waves got off to a tough start. Matias Sborowitz (Santiago, RM, Chile/Athletics Study Center) and Pawel Jankowiak (Poznan, Poland/UC Riverside) teamed up against Alejandro Requant-Bicardi and Jonas Maier of Arizona. The duo fought hard, but eventually fell, 8-4. Likewise, Nicholas Baez (Somis, Calif./Laurel Springs HS (Calif.) and Enrique Luque Rico (Cordoba, Spain/American International School of Mallorca) teamed up to take on Dominic Bechard and Josh Ortlip of Cal Poly, but fell 8-2. Scotland Garapedian (Agoura Hills, Calif./Fusion Academy) and Felipe Galvao (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Laurel Springs HS (Calif.) advanced by default, and will take on Anders Holm and Nicolas Moreno de Alboran of UCSB on Friday morning.
In singles, the Waves had a good show in the first round, with Baez and Sborowitz advancing. Baez defeated Eric Kenneth of Hawaii, taking the first set 6-4 before dropping the second 4-6. He fought hard through the final set to take the 6-4 victory. Sborowitz matched up against Arnaud Restifo of SDSU and took the first set 7-5. The second set was extremely close, with points going back and forth between the two athletes, but Restifo took the hard-earned second set by tiebreak. Sborowitz dominated the final set, sealing the match with a score of 6-2. After a bye in the first round, Rico was methodical through his match in the round of 64. He defeated Lucas Grego of Grand Canyon 6-4, 6-2.
QUOTABLE
"I think that it was a good day for the Waves," head coach Adam Schaechterle said at the end. "We took a big step forward, but the competition also showed us that there are some more big steps to go before the start of championship season in January.
"I thought that Mati (Sborowitz) had a great day. It was the first day where I have totally focused on tactics and strategy while coaching him because he has carried himself competitively the way that we expect him to throughout an entire match. And he did it in two matches, which was very impressive. He had a great day in both singles and doubles. Enrique also had a good day. It was the best that I have seen him compete in entire matches. I also thought that Pawel had probably the best win in a Waves uniform."
UP NEXT
The Waves will be back in action on Friday at the Regionals. The main draw of singles and doubles will each have Waves competing, as will the consolation singles draw.