LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Junior Sebastian Heim took down a top-30 opponent at No. 1 singles in UC Irvine's 6-1 loss to 10th-ranked USC Saturday at Marks Stadium.
Heim fought back from a one-set deficit to upend No. 28 Logan Smith, 3-6, 6-1, 1-0 (10-4). It was his second win over a ranked Pac-12 foe during the 2016-17 campaign as he also defeated No. 118 Sameer Kumar of Stanford during the fall.
"Sebby bounced back today like an elite competitor and beat a very talented Logan Smith," UCI head coach Mike Saunders said. "He's a joy to coach because he is able to make adjustments on the spot and win matches tactically. He's cerebral, plays with passion and courage, and enjoys the battle. It was a redemptive win after all the adversity he's suffered in the last 12 months."
Heim is finally healthy after an injury forced him to miss the last month of the 2016 season and kept him from training over the summer. He then came back for the first fall tournament before an illness sidelined him for the remainder of the year.
USC (3-0) narrowly edged the 'Eaters in doubles as it came down to Court 2 where Nick Crystal/Laurens Verboven pulled out the 7-6 (4) victory over freshman Bruce Man-Son-Hing and junior Luca Marquard. The Trojans had won at No. 1, before sophomore Vatsal Bajpai and freshman Derek Chen evened the playing field with a 6-4 triumph over David Laser and Logan Smith.
"We played solid doubles and had chances at No. 1 and 2," Saunders said. "Derek and Vatsal ham and egged at three, while Luca and Bruce played courageously. They did all the right things, just came up short on a couple points at the end."
The Trojans opened singles action with wins at the third, fourth and fifth spots to clinch the match. Three of USC's players were featured in the latest Oracle/ITA National Singles Rankings. The Anteaters were also playing without sophomore Luis Lopez, who came down with the flu.
"It was a tough day overall, but still a growing experience for our young team to play the best coached in the country," Saunders added.
UC Irvine (0-2) will return to action in two weeks when it welcomes UC San Diego (Feb. 3) and Grand Canyon (Feb. 4) to Anteater Tennis Stadium.
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