MALIBU, Calif. — After two days and several rounds of action at the ITA Southwest Regional, both Pepperdine men's tennis doubles teams reached the quarterfinals and Edward Winter moved on to Saturday's round of 32 in singles.
Playing at home in Malibu at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center, Pepperdine notched four doubles wins on Friday morning before Winter (Adelaide, Australia) picked up the Waves' lone singles win with a three-set battle against Sacchitt Sharrma of San Diego. With Friday's results in the books, only Pepperdine and Arizona have multiple doubles teams still alive in the quarterfinals. Additionally, Winter is the only true freshman standing in singles.
Friday morning's doubles action was the high point for the hosting Waves. Coincidentally, both teams' results were similar: The second-round matchups were much closer than the third-round, plus both Pepperdine teams made quick work of their opponents to reach the quarterfinals.
In their first-round match, Maxi Homberg (Freising, Germany) and Winter had to play from behind against Arizona's Sasha Rozin and Nick Lagaev, as the Wildcats held serve and broke the Waves for a 2-0 advantage. But the Waves underclassmen broke back, consolidated the break, and then broke the Wildcats again in a game that required Homberg to charge the net not once, but twice to win the game. All told, Pepperdine winning four-straight games in the middle of the match proved to be the difference in the Waves' 8-4 win.
At the same time, Linus Carlsson Halldin (Stockholm, Sweden) and George Davis (London, England) had to fend off a plucky Grand Canyon team of Pablo Carretero Salvador and Alfred Amasi. Pepperdine's team won two break points late — including a deuce point win at 4-3 and another at 6-3 — to hold the 'Lopes at arm's length. From there, the Waves did enough to put away the 'Lopes 8-5.
In the second round, Carlsson Halldin and Davis wasted no time against San Diego State's Chikaya Sato and Eugenio Gonzalez, as the Waves broke SDSU in the second game to take a 2-0 lead. The Pepperdine duo would lead by a break from that point forward. Davis' ace would help Pepperdine take a 5-2 lead, then his work at the net broke SDSU again for a 6-2 lead. Pepperdine consolidated the break and SDSU held serve, then the match was played on serve from that point forward as the Waves won 8-4.
On the next court over, Homberg and Winter used the former's athleticism at the net and the latter's strong groundstrokes to jump out to an early lead against Arizona State's Daniel Phillips and Constantinos Koshis. Midway through the match, the Pepperdine duo held serve to take a 4-1 lead, then Pepperdine broke the Sun Devils to go up 5-1. ASU never broke Pepperdine and only got on the board with a last-gasp effort to hold serve at 6-2.
Serving for the final time, Homberg put Pepperdine ahead with an ace, plus helped with back-to-back winners at the net to hold serve. Two double faults helped the Waves get ahead in the final game. On match point, the Waves broke the Sun Devils as Winter's return set up Homberg's forehand at the net for an 8-2 win.
Later that afternoon, Winter gave Pepperdine its lone singles win as he duked it out in an all-West Coast Conference matchup in the round of 32. The first set of the match between Winter and the fifth-year senior was played on serve until Sharrma broke Winter by winning a pivotal seven-hit rally for a 3-1 lead.
Despite dropping the first set 7-6 (2) in the tiebreak, Winter showed resolve from that point forward. With the match on serve at 1-1, Winter struck first in the third game by breaking Sharrma with a barrage of forehands. On game point, Winter moved Sharrma around the baseline until Sharrma was forced to hit an awkward return deep on the forehand side. Sharrma's attempt fell into the net, then Winter seized momentum.
Winter consolidated the break to take a 3-1 lead, but Sharrma held serve in the next game and an injury timeout ground the match to a halt. Sharrma broke Winter to tie the second set at three games apiece, yet Winter broke Sharrma back when the USD fifth-year double-faulted. Although tension between the two players rose in the latter half of the set, Winter prevailed for a 6-4 second-set win.
The third set required Winter to make a comeback.
Although Sharrma broke Winter to take a 3-1 lead, Winter broke back, then rattled off the next five games to win the match. The freshman baited Sharrma up at the net, then made him pay on several occasions, then he outlasted his opponent in several late, long rallies for a come-from-behind, 6-7 (2), 6-4, 6-3 win.
Elsewhere in singles, Carlsson Halldin, Homberg and Davis all fell in straight sets. Davis nearly forced a third set against San Diego's Lambert Ruland with a key break at 4-3 in the second, yet Ruland took a significant lead in the tiebreak to win the match 6-3, 7-6 (2). All three Waves will play consolation matches on Saturday against opponents that have yet to be determined as of press time.
RESULTS
Doubles Round of 32
Maxi Homberg/Edward Winter (PEPP) def. Sasha Rozin/Nick Lagaev (ARIZ), 8-4
George Davis/Linus Carlsson Halldin (PEPP) def. Pablo Carretero Salvador/Alfred Almasi (GCU), 8-5
Doubles Round of 16
Maxi Homberg/Edward Winter (PEPP) def. Constantinos Koshis/Daniel Phillips (ASU), 8-2
George Davis/Linus Carlsson Halldin (PEPP) def. Eugenio Gonzalez/Chikaya Sato (SDSU), 8-3
Singles Round of 32
#125 Max McKennon (ASU) def. Linus Carlsson Halldin (PEPP)
Edward Winter (PEPP) def. Sacchitt Sharrma (USD) 6-7 (2), 6-4, 6-3
Lambert Ruland (USD) def. George Davis (PEPP) 6-3, 7-6 (2)
#23 Colton Smith (ARIZ) def. Maxi Homberg (PEPP) 6-0, 6-0
SATURDAY'S MATCHES
Doubles Quarterfinals
Homberg/Winter (PEPP) vs. Iñaki Cabrera-Bello/Gustaf Strom (ARIZ), 10 a.m.
G. Davis/Carlsson Halldin (PEPP) vs. Wojtek Marek/Samuel Rubell (USC), 10 a.m.
Singles Round of 16
Winter (PEPP) vs. Neo Niedner (USD), 11:15 a.m.
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