MALIBU, Calif. — The Pepperdine men's tennis team fell 4-3 to the UC Irvine Anteaters in the season-opener at Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center on Saturday afternoon.
Playing with four freshmen in the lineup, the Waves (0-1) took the doubles point, but the middle of the Anteaters' (1-1) lineup turned out to be the difference. The Waves saw freshman Hugh Winter win his collegiate debut and #36 Maxi Homberg win a three-set battle against #31 Noah Zamora in singles action, yet UC Irvine clinched the match with a straight-set victory on court two.
Despite two new-look doubles teams, the Waves rolled in doubles. A convincing 6-3 win from freshmen Lasse Poertner and Aleksa Pisaric at the second position helped put Pepperdine strike the first punch in doubles. Poertner and Pisaric broke Sohrob Amiryavari and Max Fardanesh for a 5-3 lead in the eighth game, then served out the match with Poertner's big serving for the win.
Moments later on court one, Homberg and Linus Carlsson Halldin — the lone returning doubles team from the fall — outlasted Andy Nguyen and Zamora to clinch the doubles point. The Waves broke the Anteaters for a 2-1 lead, then the Waves consolidated the break on deuce point with a successful poach from Carlsson Halldin. From there, Pepperdine's lead was never in jeopardy. Pepperdine held serve on another deciding point in the eighth game, then Carlsson Halldin served out the match for a 6-4 win.
However, UC Irvine mounted a comeback in singles play by winning four of the six first sets.
Yet on court five, freshman Hugh Winter quickly took a double-break lead on Lawee Sherif before the UC Irvine senior held on deuce point to make the score 4-1. Winter's match was played on serve for the rest of the set en route to a 6-2 win, then the Australian immediately broke Sherif to start the second set. Sherif broke back to put the match on serve, but Winter won a pivotal break point in the seventh game and held serve for a 5-3 lead.
The UC Irvine senior mustered one final comeback attempt by holding serve, but Winter eventually won his first collegiate match 6-2, 6-4.
While Winter put Pepperdine up 2-0, UC Irvine quickly answered with wins on courts six and two.
Meanwhile on court one, Homberg and Zamora were locked in a three-set battle between two of the nation's top-40 singles players.
Both players traded 6-3 set wins before Homberg turned the tide in the eighth game. Although Zamora went up 30-15, Homberg eventually forced deciding point before breaking Zamora with a forehand return that Zamora sent long. Zamora won the next two points on Homberg's service game, yet the Pepperdine junior came back from the deficit to force match point. As Homberg and Zamora rallied, Homberg worked his way up to the net and won with a lob that Zamora could only watch.
Unfortunately for Pepperdine, the momentum was short-lived. The Anteaters won a three-set match on court four, then Hiroki Sakagawa clinched the match for UC Irvine on court three.
From here, Pepperdine will head to Dallas to face UT Arlington next Wednesday. First serve is at noon Pacific time.
RESULTS
Singles
1. #36 Maxi Homberg (PEPP) def. #31 Noah Zamora (UCI) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
2. Andy Nguyen (UCI) def. Linus Carlsson Halldin (PEPP) 6-4, 7-6 (5)
3. Hiroki Sakagawa (UCI) def. Aleksa Pisaric (PEPP) 7-6 (6), 6-4
4. Rithvik Krishna (UCI) def. Lasse Poertner (PEPP) 7-5, 3-6, 7-5
5. Hugh Winter (PEPP) def. Lawee Sherif (UCI) 6-2, 6-4
6. Ruining Huang (UCI) def. David Fix (PEPP) 7-5, 6-3
Order of finish: 5,6,2,1,4,3*
Doubles
1. Maxi Homberg/Linus Carlsson Halldin (PEPP) def. Noah Zamora/Andy Nguyen (UCI) 6-4
2. Lasse Poertner/Aleksa Pisaric (PEPP) def. Sohrob Amiryavari/Max Fardanesh (UCI) 6-3
3. Hugh Winter/Chris Papa (PEPP) vs. Rithvik Krishna/Hiroki Sakagawa (UCI) 5-5, unfinished
Order of finish: 2,1*
