California Irvine Athletics

UC Riverside (2-17, 0-2 Big West) at
UC Irvine (9-6, 1-0 Big West) 
Date: Monday, April 6
Time: 2 p.m. (PDT)
Location: Anteater Tennis Stadium - Irvine, Calif.

Match Notes

IRVINE, Calif. - The UC Irvine men's tennis team welcomes UC Riverside to Anteater Tennis Stadium for its Big West home opener on Monday, April 6.

ANTEATER TIDBITS
• The 'Eaters won their fifth Big West opener in the last six seasons with a 4-3 victory at UC Davis.
• Since 2021, the Anteaters are 25-6 in regular-season conference matches.
• UC Irvine is a perfect 8-0 at Anteater Tennis Stadium with its lone home loss coming at the Racquet Club of Irvine on Jan. 31.
• Five of UCI's six losses this season were against teams ranked among the top-65 in the nation.
• Hiroki Sakagawa and Max Fardanesh have combined for three Big West Player of the Week awards this year.
• In 2025, the 'Eaters won their second-straight Big West Championship, and third in the last four seasons.
• Mike Saunders is the back-to-back Big West Coach of the Year, winning his second and third career honors in 2024 and 2025.

DOWN TO THE WIRE
UC Irvine won each of its last two matches in thrilling fashion. In their non-conference finale against Dartmouth, the Anteaters claimed the doubles point but the Big Green took the early momentum in singles, winning the first set on all six courts. Dartmouth went on to close out three straight-set victories to go up, 3-1. Hiroki Sakagawa and Max Fardanesh then bounced back from a one-set deficit to upend their respective opponents in three to even the match. All eyes turned to court four where Sohrob Amiryavari delivered a clutch 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 victory. In their next outing at UC Davis, the 'Eaters erased a 3-2 deficit, starting with a 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 match-tying victory from Ruining Huang. Sakagawa then pulled off a nearly improbable comeback as he was down a set and trailing 5-3 in the second before saving a match point and riding that momentum all the way to a 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 win. UCI is 5-1 in 4-3 matches this year.

LAST TIME OUT
UC Irvine battled through a weather delay to upend UC Davis, 4-3, in its Big West opener on the road. The match started on Tuesday, March 31, with the Aggies claiming the doubles point for the early lead. The Anteaters responded in singles with Greg Gamal taking down Eduardo Gonzalez, 6-3, 6-2, on court six. Just minutes later, UCI pulled ahead as Tal Goodman dispatched Perry Di Giulio, 6-1, 6-0, at the third position. UCD punched back with straight-set victories at Nos. 2 and 4 to reclaim a 3-2 edge, but Ruining Huang kept the 'Eaters alive on court five. Huang rebounded from a first-set loss for a crucial 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 triumph over Nadaul Cheam to knot the team score at 3-3. Hiroki Sakagawa also showed his resilience, saving a match and UC Davis team clinch point in the second set. Sakagawa built on that momentum with a 7-5 win before going up, 4-2, in the decisive third frame when rain halted play. The match resumed on Wednesday morning with Sakagawa continuing to come up big under pressure, finishing off the gutsy 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 match-clinching win.

A GLANCE AT THE HIGHLANDERS
UC Riverside (2-17, 0-2 Big West) was idle this past week as the Highlanders were last in action on March 25 when they dropped a 6-1 decision to UC Davis on the road. Michael Chang and Andrew Lavine are tied for the team lead with five singles victories each. UCI is 31-0 against UCR since 2000. 

OUR HIRO
Graduate student Hiroki Sakagawa, who missed last season with an injury, has made his presence felt in his return to the court. Sakagawa leads the Anteaters with a 9-3 singles record, all at the top of the lineup. His most recent victory was the match-clincher in a 4-3 win at UC Davis. Sakagawa was down a set and trailing 5-3 in the second before winning a deuce point to save match point. He continued to fight all the way to a 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 triumph. Earlier in the season, Sakagawa defeated No. 103 Manvydas Balciunas of 11th-ranked San Diego, 4-6, 6-3, 10-6. The Chiba, Japan, native was rewarded for that effort with his first career Big West Men's Tennis Player of the Week honor on Feb. 11. He claimed the award again two weeks later after upending Finn Dyer of Saint Mary's, 7-5, 6-4, and Aleksi Lofman of San Diego State, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4. His victory over Lofman clinched UCI's 4-3 win against the Aztecs.

MAX EFFORT
Max Fardanesh was named the Big West Men's Tennis Player of the Week on March 18. Fardanesh was recognized after leading UC Irvine to four wins in four days as he went 3-1 in singles and 3-0 in doubles from March 11-14. He was one of only two Anteaters to be in both the singles and doubles lineup for every match. In the back end of a doubleheader, Fardanesh teamed up with Rohan Sachdev for a 6-3 win at No. 1 to secure the crucial doubles point against Army. UCI pulled ahead 3-0 in singles before the Black Knights rallied to tie it up. It came down to the top of the lineup where Fardanesh, who was playing his fourth match and was well into his fifth hour on the court for the day, was in a third set against Jackson Armistead. Fardanesh fought through the fatigue to gut out a 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 win for the 'Eaters. On the season, he is tied for the team lead with five doubles victories, while he also has five singles wins, all of which have come at Nos. 1 and 2. 

ENTERING THE MIX
Freshman Greg Gamal has been a steady force in the Anteaters' singles lineup. Gamal is second on the team with an 8-3 record playing at Nos. 5 and 6. The Villa Park native has won eight of his last nine decisions. Freshman Alex Guajardo has played in 14 doubles matches where he has won three of his last five alongside Sohrob Amiryavari. 

BACK-TO-BACK CHAMPS
Last year, UC Irvine won its second-straight Big West Championship, and third in the last four seasons (2022, 2024, 2025). Since 2022, the Anteaters have compiled a 74-34 dual match record. During that stretch, they also produced six All-Big West doubles teams, and 16 all-conference selections in singles, with eight being first-team honorees. 

CHAMPIONSHIP EXPERIENCE
Two years ago, Hiroki Sakagawa led UCI to the 2024 Big West Championship, delivering the match-clinching singles victory in both the semifinal and final. He earned first-team All-Big West honors in singles and second-team recognition in doubles. In 2025, Sakagawa led from the sideline while missing the dual-match campaign with an injury. He is the only member of this year's squad that was on the team for each of the Anteaters' last two conference titles. Graduate student Sohrob Amiryavari, junior Max Fardanesh, and sophomore Ruining Huang also played a significant role in the team's 2025 Big West Championship in their first year as Anteaters. Fardanesh led the trio, garnering All-Big West honorable mention distinction in singles. He went 12-3 in dual matches, 5-0 in conference, and 3-0 at the Big West Championships. Amiryavari finished his first campaign in the Blue & Gold with nine wins, capped by a 6-2, 6-2 triumph over Blake Kasady of seventh-ranked San Diego in the NCAA tournament. Huang added eight victories playing primarily at the fourth position as a true freshman.

BIG TIME ADDITIONS
Graduate transfers have been key to UCI's recent success, and this year is no different as the Anteaters added depth and experience with Rohan Sachdev and Tal Goodman. Sachdev came to Irvine from Georgia Tech, which was ranked for a majority of his three seasons with the program. Sachdev was also a member of the Yellow Jackets' 2024 NCAA tournament team. Goodman spent the last four years at Penn where he was ranked as high as 74th in doubles. Last year, the Quakers went 21-9 and finished the season ranked 50th in the nation.

UP NEXT
UC Irvine is back home on Friday, April 10, when it entertains Cal Poly in a 12 p.m. Big West showdown.