SPOKANE, Wash. – The Gonzaga Fall Invitational kicked off today with over 12 hours of men's tennis at the Stevens Center.
Tom Dunlop and Oscar Rashed won opening-round singles matches, advancing to tomorrow's quarterfinals. Dunlop wore down EWU in two close sets, while Rashed avenged a first-frame stumble to beat Montana. Kai-Luca Ampaw and Gus Krauel dropped three-set bouts.
In doubles, both Bulldog pairings were victorious in the quarterfinals but defeated in the semifinals. The duo of Krauel/Ampaw beat Idaho 6-4, then fell 6-3 to Boise State. Rashed/Dunlop topped EWU 6-3, but could not outlast Seattle in a tiebreaker.
Meanwhile, at the ITA West Sectional Championships on Friday, Giovanni Branchetti/Jay Fairclough won their consolation doubles match, surviving a three-set battle against UC Irvine. The duo dropped the first set 7-5, claimed the next frame 6-1, then triumphed 10-6 in the superbreaker.
During the fall season, Gonzaga men's tennis has an overall record of 20-20 in doubles and 31-32 in singles. Branchetti/Fairclough (10-4) opened the season 8-0 in doubles, including a win over #13 UC Berkeley in the quarterfinals of last month's ITA Northwest Regional Championships.
Up next: The Bulldogs continue the Gonzaga Fall Invite through Sun. Nov. 10 at the Stevens Center. Singles quarterfinals and semifinals will take place tomorrow. The ITA West Sectional Championships, hosted by Pepperdine, also continues through Sunday in Malibu, Calif.
11/8 Results from Spokane, Wash.
Doubles Quarterfinals:
Gus Krauel/Kai-Luca Ampaw def. Francisco Gay/Yu-Shun Lai (Idaho) 6-4
Oscar Rashed/Tom Dunlop def. Drew Dillon/Brady Thomas (EWU) 6-3
Doubles Semifinals:
Taiyo Kurata/Idriss Haddouch (BSU) def. Gus Krauel/Kai-Luca Ampaw 6-3
Yu Han Hsieh/Yuan Lu (Seattle) def. Oscar Rashed/Tom Dunlop 7-6 (4)
Singles Round of 16:
Tom Dunlop def. Caden Kammerer (EWU) 7-5, 6-4
Oscar Rashed def. Eivind Tandberg (Montana) 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4
Lucas Kimelman (Portland) def. Kai-Luca Ampaw 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-1
Moritz Lesjak (Montana) def. Gus Krauel 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-0
11/8 Results from Malibu, Calif.
Consolation Doubles:
Giovanni Branchetti/Jay Fairclough def. Noah Zamora/Hiroki Sakagawa (UC Irvine) 5-7, 6-1, 10-6
