TULSA, Okla. — Kicking off the first day of the qualifying draw at the ITA All-American Championships, Pepperdine men's tennis players Linus Carlsson Halldin and Edward Winter started off on the right foot with first-round wins on Monday.
Both Waves will play in the second round of the qualifying draw, held at the University of Tulsa, tomorrow.
Playing in his fifth match in three days, Carlsson Halldin (Stockholm, Sweden) upset 6-seed Alex Petrov of Illinois with a 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 come-from-behind win. In the third set, Petrov couldn't get a good handle on Carlsson Halldin's serve; the sophomore won match point off an ace.
The win is Carlsson Halldin's first over a ranked opponent this season; he will go for number two against #117 Liam Krall of SMU tomorrow at 8 a.m. PT.
Elsewhere in singles, Winter (Adelaide, Australia) made quick work of #93 Karl Poling of North Carolina in a 6-2, 6-3 win. The victory is his second win over a ranked singles opponent this season; earlier this year, he beat #31 Gavin Young of Michigan at The Malibu Showdown. Winter will get his first taste of West Coast Conference competition as he'll face Santa Clara's Christian Lerby in the second round of the qualifying singles draw on Tuesday at 7 a.m. PT.
Later that day, Carlsson Halldin and Winter played in two tightly contested doubles matches in the open doubles draw.
In the opening round against #44 Alan Magadan and Tiago Torres of UTSA — a team that made the Round of 16 in the NCAA Doubles Tournament this past spring — the Pepperdine underclassmen found themselves down a break in the second set. Despite trailing by as many as 4-1 in the second set, Carlsson Halldin and Winter staged a comeback and won the second-set tiebreaker 7-5 to force a decisive third set. The Waves would win the third set 10-4 to seal the upset and move on to the second round.
Several hours later, Carlsson Halldin and Winter were in another close doubles match against Tulsa's Pierce Rollins and Timothy Carlsson Seger. Like the previous match, the Waves went down in a close first set, yet immediately turned the tide in the second set with a 6-3 win. Although the combination of Winter's strong serves and Carlsson Halldin's play at the net seemed to be working in the tiebreaker, the Tulsa duo broke the Waves in a five-hit rally on match point.
RESULTS
Qualifying Singles
Linus Carlsson Halldin (PEPP) def. #54 Petrov (ILL), 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2
Edward Winter (PEPP) def. #93 Poling (UNC), 6-2, 6-3
Open Doubles
Linus Carlsson Halldin/Edward Winter (PEPP) def. #44 Magadan/Torres (UTSA), 5-7, 7-6 (7-5), 10-4
Rollins/Seger (TULS) def. Linus Carlsson Halldin/Edward Winter (PEPP), 7-6 (8-6), 3-6, 10-8
TUESDAY'S MATCHES
Qualifying Singles
Edward Winter (PEPP) vs. #84 Lerby (SCU), 7 a.m. PT
Linus Carlsson Halldin (PEPP) vs. #117 Krall (SMU), 8 a.m. PT
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