MALIBU, Calif. — All four members of the Pepperdine men's tennis team advanced to the singles round of 32 at the ITA Southwestern Regional, held in Malibu at Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center on Thursday.
Both Linus Carlsson Halldin and George Davis won two matches in order to get to Friday's next round, whereas Maxi Homberg and Edward Winter won in straight sets after receiving first-round byes on Thursday. Only Power-5 schools Arizona (six) and UCLA (five) have more singles players alive in the main draw.
Kicking off the singles action for the Waves, Carlsson Halldin (Stockholm, Sweden) played in the first of three marathon, three-set matches against San Diego State's Mathieu Josserand. Despite dropping the first set 7-6 (3), Carlsson Halldin evened the score with a 6-3 second-set win. Then in the third set, Carlsson Halldin led 4-1 before Josserand clawed his way back into the match by rattling off four straight games to take a 5-4 lead.
With the momentum shifted in the Aztec's favor, Carlsson Halldin won a key hold to make it five games all, then in the next game, the Pepperdine redshirt sophomore broke Josserand thanks to winning two long rallies. Winning both long rallies turned the tide in Carlsson Halldin's favor, as he held serve in the final game to win 6-7 (3), 6-3, 7-5.
Davis (London, England) would win both of his matches in straight sets on Thursday. First, against SDSU's Andre Saleh, Davis trailed 2-3 in the first set before breaking Saleh at 4-3, giving him a lead he wouldn't relinquish. After winning the first set 6-4, Davis rattled off the first four games of the second set. He wouldn't look back en route to a 6-4, 6-2 win.
In Davis' second match against USC's Samuel Rubell, the Waves graduate senior won the first set 6-3, then went up a break early in the second set. He extended his lead to 4-1, then broke Rubell again to force match point. Yet Rubell tried staging one more comeback by breaking Davis, then consolidating the break to make the score 5-3 in the second set. In what would be the final game, Davis fell behind 30-15, then won the next three points to take the match 6-3, 6-3.
Winter (Adelaide, Australia), meanwhile, faced little resistance in his 6-0, 6-4 straight-set win over GCU's Pablo Carretero Salvador. The win sets the Pepperdine freshman up with a match against San Diego's Sacchitt Sharrma, who is the 17-seed in the singles draw.
Competing in just his second tournament of the fall season, Homberg (Freising, Germany) and UC Santa Barbara sophomore Conrad Brown squared off in the round of 64 on Thursday afternoon. Despite trailing 4-5 in the first set, Homberg broke Brown in a pivotal game, then consolidated the break to take a 6-5 lead. He would win the next four points to break Brown again and win the set 7-5.
Spurred on by that set-winning break, Homberg broke Brown immediately to start the second set. Although Brown would come back to take a 4-3 lead, Homberg held serve, then broke Brown again thanks to the UCSB sophomore losing command of his serve. Homberg would eventually earn his first singles win of the fall season in a 7-5, 7-5 win.
Under the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center lights, Carlsson Halldin and UC Santa Barbara senior Luka Mrsic duked it out in another three-setter to wrap up the singles action for Pepperdine. After winning the first set 7-5, Mrsic evened the score with a 6-2, second-set win. The tension rose in the third set, as Mrsic broke first to take a 2-1 lead, then went up a break. But Carlsson Halldin rallied by holding serve, then breaking Mrsic. The Pepperdine redshirt sophomore consolidated the break before Mrsic won the next four points to hold serve.
However, Carlsson Halldin dug deep in the next game by making several good plays at the net to take a 30-0 lead. After winning the game on a gentle forehand tap at the service line that Mrsic didn't make an attempt on, the UCSB senior retaliated by winning the next five points. From there, the match was played on serve and both players headed into the tiebreak.
Serving with a 2-1 lead, Carlsson Halldin's overhead smash eked just inbounds, sending UCSB's fans into an uproar. From there, Carlsson Halldin held momentum to win the match 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 (3).
THURSDAY'S MATCHES
Singles Round of 128
Linus Carlsson Halldin (PEPP) def. Josserand (SDSU), 6-7 (3), 6-3, 7-5
George Davis (PEPP) def. Saleh (SDSU), 6-4, 6-2
Singles Round of 64
George Davis (PEPP) def. Rubell (USC), 6-3, 6-3
Maxi Homberg (PEPP) def. Brown (UCSB), 7-5, 7-5
Edward Winter (PEPP) def. Carretero Salvador (GCU), 6-0, 6-4
Linus Carlsson Halldin (PEPP) def. Mrsic (UCSB), 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 (3)
FRIDAY'S MATCHES
Singles Round of 32
Linus Carlsson Halldin (PEPP) vs. #125 McKennon (ASU), 11:30 a.m.
Edward Winter (PEPP) vs. Sharrma (USD), 1 p.m.
George Davis (PEPP) vs. Ruland (USD), 1 p.m.
Maxi Homberg (PEPP) vs. #23 Smith (ARIZ), 1 p.m.
Doubles Round of 32
Maxi Homberg/Edward Winter (PEPP) vs. Rozin/Lagaev (ARIZ), 9 a.m.
George Davis/Linus Carlsson Halldin (PEPP) vs. Carretero Salvador/Almasi (GCU), 9 a.m.
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