MALIBU, Calif. — In an opening day that ran the gamut of emotions, the Pepperdine men's tennis team's day started with narrow losses in doubles, but ended with freshman Zach Stephens surrounded by his teammates, celebrating the Waves clinching a 4-3 win over Georgia Tech.
The Waves (1-0) shook off losing the doubles point to the previously undefeated Yellow Jackets (5-1) and flipped the switch in singles, as the middle of its lineup rolled in dominant, straight-set wins from Maxi Homberg, Chris Papa and Pietro Fellin. With a narrow 3-2 lead and both matches in their third sets, Stephens answered the call with his come-from-behind 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 win on the sixth line.
Georgia Tech struck first in doubles with a 6-2 win at the first doubles position, but the Waves made things interesting in the next two doubles matches. Making their debut as a team, Pepperdine's team of Tyler Davis and Papa nearly mounted a comeback after trailing 5-2 on the third line. Facing match point, Davis and Papa broke Gabriele Brancatelli and Krish Arora, then consolidated the break to pull within one game of the Yellow Jackets. However, Georgia Tech broke the Waves in the next game to clinch the doubles point.
In singles, Homberg kicked things off for the Waves by going up a break and winning the first five games of his first set en route to a 6-3 victory. In the second set, Homberg overpowered Richard Biagiotti to cap off his 6-3, 6-0 straight-set win at the fifth position.
His win broke the dam for the Waves. Seconds later on the next court over, Papa charged the net, then set up an overhead smash with a slicing forehand to seal a 6-2, 6-4 win on the third line. The win not only was Papa's first at the Division I level, but also gave Pepperdine a 2-1 lead over Georgia Tech that it would not relinquish.
Over on the fourth line, Fellin came back from a 3-0 deficit in the first set, held serve at 3-3, then broke Gabriele Brancatelli in the next game to take the lead. Fellin wouldn't look back, cruising to a 6-3 first-set win. Although Brancatelli broke Fellin in the first game of the second set, Fellin broke back, then won the next three points in the next game en route to consolidating the break. Fellin would go up a break in the next game, then hold serve to take a 4-1 lead before capping off his 6-3, 6-2 win.
As Georgia Tech put another point on the board with a win on the first line, the spotlight turned to the final two singles matches, both of which went to three sets.
Stephens' match against Krish Arora started with Arora breaking Stephens in the first game, then parlaying that into a 4-0 lead. The Pepperdine freshman held in the next game, then parlayed that momentum into breaking Arora then consolidating the break to pull within one game of the Yellow Jacket freshman. The match was played on serve for the next three games, giving Arora a 6-4 first-set win. Stephens would need yet another comeback in the second set after Arora won the first break point, but this time the Pepperdine freshman answered with a 6-4 second-set win to force a third set.
Tied three games all and facing deuce point, Stephens won a pivotal, eight-hit rally for a pivotal hold, which swung the match back into the Wave's favor. Stephens then broke to take a 5-3 lead. Arora countered by breaking back. Yet in the tenth game, Stephens got out to a 40-15 lead before Arora's serve went long on match point to cap off Stephens' 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 win.
From here, Pepperdine has a quick turnaround against a formidable opponent. The #21 Michigan State Spartans — which beat UC Santa Barbara 5-2 at Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center earlier Sunday morning — are the Waves' next opponent tomorrow at 2 p.m.
RESULTS
Doubles
1. Marcus McDaniel/Keshav Chopra (GT) def. #43 Maxi Homberg/Edward Winter (PEPP) 6-2
2. Andres Martin/Richard Biagiotti (GT) vs. Pietro Fellin/Linus Carlsson Halldin (PEPP) 5-4, unfinished
3. Gabriele Brancatelli/Krish Arora (GT) def. Tyler Davis/Chris Papa (PEPP) 6-4
Order of finish: 3,1
Singles
1. Andres Martin (GT) def. #23 Edward Winter (PEPP) 7-6 (7), 6-2
2. Keshav Chopra (GT) def. Linus Carlsson Halldin (PEPP) 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-3
3. Chris Papa (PEPP) def. Marcus McDaniel (GT) 6-2, 6-4
4. Pietro Fellin (PEPP) def. #67 Gabriele Brancatelli (GT) 6-3, 6-2
5. Maxi Homberg (PEPP) def. Richard Biagiotti (GT) 6-3, 6-0
6. Zach Stephens (PEPP) def. Krish Arora (GT) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
Order of finish: 5,3,4,1,6*,2
UP NEXT: The Waves host #21 Michigan State tomorrow at 2 p.m. All live stream and live stat links can be found on the men's tennis team's schedule page at pepperdinewaves.com.
FOLLOW: Follow @PeppTennis on Facebook and Twitter for immediate updates, results and more. Go to pepperdinewaves.com for all information, releases and schedules.
