Day 1 Results

Tournament Central

MALIBU, Calif. - The UC Irvine men's tennis team won six singles and two doubles matches on the first day of the ITA Southwest Regional Championships Thursday at Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center.
 
Freshman Ali Amiri and sophomore Aaron Bailey opened the tournament with their fourth consecutive doubles victory, outlasting Simao Alves/Chia Hua Lu of Hawai'i, 8-7 (8-6). They then came up just short in the Round of 32 against Cal Poly's Antoine Noel/Gary Vardanyan, 8-6.
 
Amiri and Bailey, who won their doubles flight at the Aztec Fall Invitational earlier this month, are now 4-1 during the fall season.
 
Senior Bruce Man-Son-Hing and junior Mateusz Smolicki also got off to a hot start, cruising to an 8-1 victory over the Grand Canyon pairing of Leo Andreolli/Maxim Kirsch. The 'Eaters were stopped in the Round of 32, however, dropping a narrow 8-6 decision to San Diego's Joel Gamerov/Sacchitt Sharrma.
 
UCI came out on top in six of its nine first-round singles matches. Freshman Matthew Sah defeated Pepperdine's Evan Shamlian in straight sets, 6-0, 7-5.
 
Senior Daniel Gealer showed his resiliency against Kirsch (GCU) with a 5-7, 7-6, 6-1 comeback victory.
 
Junior Jeremy Merville toppled the Lopes' Sasha Kovacevic, 6-2, 6-4, while Bailey took down Trystan Martin (Hawai'i), 6-1, 6-1. Sophomore Mike Mkrtchian also won in straight sets against Max Cohen of UC Riverside, 6-3, 7-5. Amiri added his first collegiate singles victory with a 6-3, 6-1 triumph over Alves (UH).
 
UCI was then knocked out of the main draw in the Round of 64 where they squared off against some tough competition from the likes of USC, UCLA and defending Big West champion UC Santa Barbara. Sah pushed the Gauchos' Joseph Rotheram to a third set before ultimately falling, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.
 
The 'Eaters return to Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center Friday for the second day of the ITA Southwest Regional.