MALIBU, Calif. — Making their fall season debuts, Pepperdine men's tennis players Linus Carlsson Halldin and Zach Stephens picked up six wins over the course of three days at the Sherwood College Cup in Thousand Oaks, Calif. this past weekend.
The tournament, which was hosted by SMU, saw both Waves square off against players from Cal, New Mexico, SMU, USC and fellow West Coast Conference member Pacific. Carlsson Halldin and Stephens also made their debuts as a doubles team, going 2-2 while ending the tournament on a two-match win streak.
Stephens' three-set win over SMU's Maks Silagy highlighted the first day of competition, which saw the Waves go 1-3 across singles and doubles play. In Stephens' first singles match of the year, the Pepperdine sophomore bested the SMU fifth-year senior 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 for his first of two wins that weekend.
On the second day, he and Carlsson Halldin posted their first doubles win of the year: a 6-1 rout of New Mexico's Avery Tallakson and Daniil Kakhniuk. Both Waves also had straight-set wins against Lobos in singles play, as Carlsson Halldin beat Dario Ciobotaru 6-3, 6-3; then Stephens notched his second win of the year by beating Nicolas Recoura 6-2, 7-5.
Carlsson Halldin's 6-2, 7-6 (5) win over Jonathan Irwanto of California wrapped up the wins for the Waves on Sunday. That win was the Pepperdine captain's first of the season.
Both players will be back in action later this week, as the Waves head to the Milwaukee Tennis Classic and the SoCal Intercollegiates, the latter of which is hosted by WCC rival San Diego. The SoCal Intercollegiates start Thursday and run through Sunday, while the Milwaukee Tennis Classic starts Friday and also wraps up Sunday.
RESULTS
Doubles Results
Day One
Tristan Bradley/Connor Church (USC) def. Linus Carlsson Halldin/Zach Stephens (PEPP) 7-6 (1)
Xavier Calvelo/Maks Silagy (SMU) def. Linus Carlsson Halldin/Zach Stephens (PEPP) 6-2
Day Two
Linus Carlsson Halldin/Zach Stephens (PEPP) def. Avery Tallakson/Daniil Kakhniuk (UNM) 6-1
Day Three
Linus Carlsson Halldin/Zach Stephens (PEPP) def. Alex Chang/Jonathan Irwanto (CAL) 6-4
Singles Results
Day One
Zach Stephens (PEPP) def. Maks Silagy (SMU) 6-3, 1-6, 6-4
#123 Alex Chang (CAL) def. Linus Carlsson Halldin (PEPP) 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
Day Two
Linus Carlsson Halldin (PEPP) def. Dario Ciobotaru (UNM) 6-3, 6-3
Zach Stephens (PEPP) def. Nicolas Recoura (UNM) 6-2, 7-5
Tiago Silva (Pacific) def. Linus Carlsson Halldin (PEPP) 6-2, 6-4
Ran Amar (Pacific) def. Zach Stephens (PEPP) 6-4, 3-6, 6-2
Day Three
Linus Carlsson Halldin (PEPP) def. Jonathan Irwanto (CAL) 6-2, 7-6 (5)
Connor Church (USC) def. Zach Stephens (PEPP) 7-6 (6), retired
