MALIBU, Calif. — The No. 23 Pepperdine men's tennis team took a 3-2 lead, yet the No. 43 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos came back to win two three-set matches to hand the Waves a 4-3 home loss on Wednesday afternoon.
The Waves (12-8, 2-1 WCC) took the doubles point against the Gauchos (14-3, 3-0 Big West) and got straight-set wins from Hugh Winter and David Fix before UCSB made its late push. In a battle between two ranked opponents, No. 79 Gianluca Brunkow clinched the match with a three-set win on court one.
Despite playing with a new doubles pairing of Linus Carlsson Halldin and David Fix at the third position, the Waves took care of business in doubles play. The Waves' nationally ranked duo of No. 73 Edward Winter and Hugh Winter upset UCSB's top doubles team of No. 48 Gianluca Brunkow and Dominique Rolland 6-2 to not only give Pepperdine an early advantage but also win their third match over a ranked opponent.
Shortly after the Winter brothers served out their match, Carlsson Halldin and Fix broke Charlie Underwood and Conrad Brown for a 6-2 win. With the Gauchos serving to Carlsson Halldin on the deuce side, the Pepperdine captain came through with a backhand winner down the line to win the doubles point.
Singles play was close between the Waves and Gauchos, as each team won three first sets. Pepperdine extended its lead with a straight-set win from Hugh Winter on court six, who blazed through his 6-2, 6-4 match against Matei Gavrea for his second dual-match win. Although Gavrea went up a break in the second set, the younger Winter broke Gavrea in the eighth game to put the match back on serve, then broke Gavrea one final time when the Gaucho freshman double-faulted on match point.
One court over, David Fix helped add to Pepperdine's lead with a straight-set win over Conrad Brown. On deuce point in the 12th game, the Pepperdine freshman broke Brown for the first set by executing a two-ball pass that Brown had no answer for. From there, Fix controlled the second set, took a double-break lead in the sixth game, then consolidated the break for a 5-2 lead. Brown held serve in his final service game to extend the match, yet Fix served out his 7-5, 6-3 win in the next game to put Pepperdine up 3-0.
But the Gauchos stormed back. UCSB tied the score with straight-set wins on courts three and four, then pushed the remaining matches to a third set.
Tied 4-4 in the third set, Lucca Liu won a key break point at deuce, then served out his 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 win on court two. This set up UCSB senior No. 79 Gianluca Brunkow, who served out his come-from-behind, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 win on court one to hand Pepperdine the 4-3 loss.
Pepperdine will resume West Coast Conference play in the Pacific Northwest this weekend, starting with a match at Gonzaga on Saturday at 10 a.m. All schedule updates can be found on the men's tennis team's schedule page on pepperdinewaves.com.
RESULTS
Singles
1. #79 Gianluca Brunkow (UCSB) def. #19 Edward Winter (PEPP) 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
2. Lucca Liu (UCSB) def. Lasse Poertner (PEPP) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
3. Dominique Rolland (UCSB) def. Linus Carlsson Halldin (PEPP) 6-2, 6-3
4. #110 Diogo Morais (UCSB) def. Aleksa Pisaric (PEPP) 6-2, 6-4
5. David Fix (PEPP) def. Conrad Brown (UCSB) 7-5, 6-3
6. Hugh Winter (PEPP) def. Matei Gavrea (UCSB) 6-2, 6-4
Order of finish: 6,5,3,4,2,1*
Doubles
1. #73 Edward Winter/Hugh Winter (PEPP) def. #48 Gianluca Brunkow/Dominique Rolland (UCSB) 6-2
2. Aleksa Pisaric/Lasse Poertner (PEPP) vs. Lucca Liu/Diogo Morais (UCSB) 5-4, unfinished
3. Linus Carlsson Halldin/David Fix (PEPP) def. Charlie Underwood/Conrad Brown (UCSB) 6-2
Order of finish: 1,3*
