LAS VEGAS – San Diego State's Alex Scemanenco (Cardiff-by-the-Sea, Calif.) posted two victories in singles competition on Friday to lead the Aztec men's tennis delegation in its opening fall tournament at the Larry Easley Memorial Classic on the campus of UNLV.
Scemanenco rallied for a three-set triumph in the opening round of Flight 2 over UNLV's Thomas Navarro, 2-6, 6-1, 7-6(4), before duplicating the feat in the quarterfinals, where he pulled away from Cal Poly's Alexis Delisle, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. With his results, the Aztec junior punched his ticket to Saturday's main draw semifinal round.
The three remaining players in the SDSU contingent split their singles matches on Friday. Junior Victor Castro (Novo Hamburgo, Brazil) and freshman Alexander Mändma (Tallinn, Estonia) fell short in their respective first-round encounters in Flight 1. Castro was toppled in straight sets by second-seeded Sasha Trkulja of Gonzaga, 6-1, 6-3, while Mändma ran out of steam in a three-set loss to Cal Poly's Colter Smith, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.
However, both competitors rebounded with wins in the consolation bracket. Mändma upended fourth-seeded Milos Dabic of UNLV, 7-6(4), 6-4, while Castro outlasted Joe Leather of Cal Poly in a super-tiebreaker, 1-6, 7-5, 10-8.
Likewise, sophomore Judson Blair (Salem, Ore.) experienced a similar fate in Flight 2, where he dropped a 6-1, 6-3 decision to Gonzaga's Tom Hann before emerging victorious in the consolation draw with a, 6-2, 6-1 conquest of Grand Canyon's Grzegorz Rudnicki.
In doubles play, Castro and Mändma earned a No. 4 seed and advanced with an 8-4 triumph over the Arizona State tandem of Spencer Brachman and Moritz Hoffmann. However, the pairing of Scemanenco and Blair experienced the opposite fate, finishing on the wrong side of an 8-4 count against Gonzaga's third-seeded duo of Trkulja and Matthew Hollingworth.
The Easley Memorial Classic resumes on Saturday with two rounds of doubles competition and one round of singles, starting at 9 a.m. PT.
2021 Larry Easley Memorial Classic
Day One Results (SDSU only)
Fertitta Tennis Complex, Las Vegas, Nev.
Flight One Singles – First Round
(2) Sasha Trkulja (Gonzaga) def. Victor Castro (SDSU), 6-1, 6-3
Colter Smith (Cal Poly) def. Alexander Mändma (SDSU), 2-6, 6-4, 6-3
Flight One Singles – Consolation Round
Alexander Mändma (SDSU) def. (4) Milos Dabic (UNLV), 7-6(4), 6-4
Victor Castro (SDSU) def. Joe Leather (Cal Poly), 1-6, 7-5, 10-8)
Flight Two Singles – First Round
Alex Scemanenco (SDSU) def. Thomas Navarro (UNLV), 2-6, 6-1, 7-6(4)
Tom Hann (Gonzaga) def. Judson Blair (SDSU), 6-1, 6-3
Flight Two Singles – Quarterfinals
Alex Scemanenco (SDSU) def. Alexis Delisle (Cal Poly), 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
Flight Two Singles – Consolation Round
Judson Blair (SDSU) def. Grzegorz Rudnicki (Grand Canyon) 6-2, 6-1
First Round Doubles
(4) Alexander Mändma/Victor Castro (SDSU) def. Spencer Brachman/Moritz Hoffmann (ASU), 8-4
(3) Matthew Hollingworth/Sasha Trkulja (Gonzaga) def. Judson Blair/Alex Scemanenco (SDSU), 8-4
Saturday, Sept. 18 - 9 a.m. PT
Quarterfinal Doubles
Semifinal Singles
Semifinal Doubles