MALIBU, Calif. — Pepperdine men's tennis junior Maxi Homberg's three-set singles win highlighted the second day of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Sectional Championship, held at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center on Friday.
Although Homberg, Linus Carlsson Halldin and Chris Papa began the day with postseason aspirations, Homberg was the lone Wave to advance to Saturday's quarterfinals. The Pepperdine junior beat Arizona's Zoran Ludoski in three sets, 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-1 and is now one win away from earning his first trip to the NCAA Singles Championships.
Setting the tone for the rest of the set, Homberg broke the Arizona freshman for a 2-1 advantage, consolidated the break, and maintained his lead throughout the first set to win 6-3. Both players didn't blink in the second set. The match was played on serve throughout, then Ludoski finally broke through with a 7-6 (4) win in the breaker.
But the final set was all Homberg. He went up a break to begin the set, then Ludoski won his only break point in the third game to make the score 2-1. Homberg broke back in the fourth game, then didn't relent as he served out the match for his fourth singles win of the fall season.
Tomorrow Homberg will face Emon Van Loben Sels of UCLA for a shot at an NCAA Tournament bid. But Homberg loses, his season isn't finished. The four quarterfinal losers will compete in a playoff with the two winners earning postseason bids.
Elsewhere in the singles draw, Carlsson Halldin and Chris Papa lost their matches in three sets.
Despite needing just one break point winner to take the first set off #44 Theo Dean of California, Carlsson Halldin's second set was a much tougher climb. The match was played on serve heading into the breaker, where Dean pulled away with a convincing 7-6 (0) rout. Carlsson Halldin broke Dean to start the final set, yet Dean broke back to put the match on serve before going up a break in the fourth game. Dean eventually prevailed in three sets, 4-6, 7-6 (0), 6-2.
One court over, Papa dropped the first set 6-3 to Nevada's Youssef Kadiri, yet the graduate senior went up a break early and eventually led 4-1 in the second set. The match was played on serve from that point forward, as Papa won 6-3 and forced a third set. However, a lopsided third set led to Papa falling 3-6, 6-3, 1-6.
Earlier on Friday, Homberg and Carlsson Halldin looked poised for an upset over California's #13 doubles team of Michael Wright and Alex Chang, but the Waves faltered in the third-set tiebreaker to end their fall season.
Neither team budged in the early goings of the first set. Carlsson Halldin and Homberg dealt the first blow in the seventh game by breaking Wright's serve, then the Waves consolidated the break for a 5-3 lead. The Waves went on to break the Golden Bears and win the first set, 6-4.
In the second set, Wright and Chang battled back from a 40-15 deficit in the fifth game to break the Waves. Both teams traded breaks to put the match back on serve, then Wright helped California consolidate the break for a 5-3 lead. With Carlsson Halldin back to serve, the Waves held to make the score 5-4 in favor of the Golden Bears.
But the Waves had another chance. Despite trailing 40-15 in the tenth game, the Waves rallied back to force a deciding point, but unfortunately for Pepperdine, California held serve to take the second set 6-4 and force a ten-point tiebreaker. A 4-0 Golden Bear run in the breaker was ultimately the difference as Pepperdine fell 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (10-5).
RESULTS
Doubles Round of 16
#13 Michael Wright/Alex Chang (CAL) def. Linus Carlsson Halldin/Maxi Homberg (PEPP) 3-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-5)
Singles Round of 16
#103 Maxi Homberg (PEPP) def. Zoran Ludoski (UA) 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-1
#44 Theo Dean (CAL) def. Linus Carlsson Halldin (PEPP) 4-6, 7-6 (0), 6-2
Youssef Kadiri (UNR) def. Chris Papa (PEPP) 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
