Men's Tennis Finishes Day Two at UCSB Fall Classic

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The San Diego State men's tennis team continued play at the UCSB Fall Classic on Saturday, pocketing five more singles victories across three flights to go with a doubles triumph.

In Flight A singles competition, Aaro Pollanen (Helsinki, Finland) punched his ticket to the consolation finals after pinning a 6-1, 7-5 defeat on Oregon's Luke Vandecasteele, followed by a 6-1 decision over UCLA's Mathew Tsolakyan, who retired from the match with an illness. As a result, the Aztec junior will square off against Jesper Klov-Nilsson of Oregon on Sunday for the title.

In Flight B, David Hough (Traralgon, Australia) split his two matches in the main draw, upending Stanford's Sam Turchetta in the quarterfinals, 7-5, 6-4, before falling to Cal Poly's Fernando Fonseca in a three-set semifinal battle, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. Consequently, the SDSU senior will face UCSB's Alex Dominguez in the third-place match on Sunday.

Over on the consolation side of the bracket, Ignacio Martinez (Weston, Fla.) began the day with a straight-set victory over Stanford's Tomas Kopczynski, 7-6(1), 6-1, but had his progress halted after Cal Poly's Roman Shenkiryk rallied for a three-set triumph in the semifinals, 1-6, 6-4, 6-3. With his split, the Aztec junior will play UCSB's Will Saiga for 11th place on Sunday.

Rafael Gonzalez Almazan (Madrid, Spain) had his advance in the main draw of Flight C stymied in the semifinals by Campbell Nakayama of Cal Poly, who pulled away for a 6-1, 6-0 win. Earlier in the quarterfinals, the Aztec senior dispatched UCSB's Luke Vukmanovic by a 6-2, 6-3 count. On Sunday, Gonzalez Almazan is scheduled engage Cal's Tomas Wright in the third-place contest.

Both of San Diego State's doubles matches were decided in tiebreaking fashion by the identical 8-7(5) score. In the consolation bracket of Flight A, Pollanen and Martinez survived grueling encounter against Gary Vandanyan and Antoine Noel, advancing to face UCLA's Bryce Pereira and Max Wild in Sunday's final.

However, Hough and Gonzalez Almazan were not as fortunate, falling short to Cal's Wright and Mert Zincirli in the main draw semifinals of Flight B. The Aztec duo will lock horns with UCSB's Alex Vedri and Alex Dominguez in the third-place match Sunday.
 
UCSB Fall Classic
Santa Barbara, Calif.
Day Two Results (SDSU only)
 
Flight A Singles
Consolation Draw
Aaro Pollanen (SDSU) def. Luke Vandecasteele (ORE), 6-1, 7-5
Aaro Pollanen (SDSU) def. Mathew Tsolakyan (UCLA), 6-1, ret. ill
 
Flight B Singles
Main Draw
David Hough (SDSU) def. Sam Turchetta (STAN), 7-5, 6-4
Fernando Fonseca (CP) def. David Hough (SDSU), 3-6, 6-4, 6-4
 
Consolation Draw
Ignacio Martinez (SDSU) def. Tomas Kopczynski (STAN), 7-6(1), 6-1
Roman Shenkiryk (CP) def. Ignacio Martinez (SDSU), 1-6, 6-4, 6-3
 
Flight C Singles
Main Draw
Rafael Gonzalez Almazan (SDSU) def. Luke Vukmanovic (UCSB), 6-2, 6-3
Campbell Nakayama (CP) def. Rafael Gonzalez Almazan (SDSU), 6-1, 6-0
 
Doubles Flight A
Consolation Draw
Aaro Pollanen/Ignacio Martinez (SDSU) def. Gary Vardanyan/Antoine Noel (CP), 8-7(5)
 
Doubles Flight B
Main Draw Semifinals
Tomas Wright/Mert Zincirl (CAL) def. David Hough/Rafael Gonzalez Almazan (SDSU), 8-7(5)