The Gauchos had a successful day on the courts on day 2 of the UCSB Classic, claiming a guaranteed first place finish in B Flight Doubles, a first place win in C Flight Singles, and a chance to take the top spot in B Flight singles.
Gaucho senior Sasha Gryaznov had another strong day, recording a win in doubles and two more victories in singles to move onto to the finals in both. Gryaznov started the day in B Flight doubles, pairing up with Luke Steeb to defeat UC San Diego’s Meyer/Malozsak 8-3 in the semifinal round to advance to Sunday’s finals. Gryaznov/Steeb will face fellow Gauchos Miles Seemann and Corey Karen, who defeated UCSD’s Dutreix/Herekar 8-4, in the championship round.
Gryaznov added two more wins in B Flight singles, beating Cal’s Jack Sanford in straight sets 6-3, 7-6 and edging Kester Black of Northern Arizona 1-6, 6-3, 6-2. Gryaznov will play Brett Bacharach (UCD) in Sunday’s finale.
Freshman Filip Karlsson grabbed a first place finish in the C Flight Singles with two wins on Saturday. Karlsson was victorious against NAU’s Gobatie 6-3, 6-3 and bounced back from a set down to win the final 3-6, 6-3 6-4 against UCSD’s Meyer. Karlsson added a win in C Flight doubles with partner Erik Johnsson, defeating Locci/Gobatie (NAU) 8-5.
In Flight A singles, junior Tobias Galskov added a pair of wins in the back draw and can earn a 9th place finish with a win tomorrow. Galskov rolled past Parker Kelley 6-2, 6-0 and defeated teammate Teague Hamilton 6-2, 6-1. Hamilton won his first match of the day against UC San Diego’s Rajeev Herekar 6-4, 6-3 before losing to Galskov and will play for 11th place.
Junior Ziad Sultan lost a tough match to Cal’s Wyatt Houghton 6-2, 6-3 and defaulted into the next round. Sultan will play for 5th place in A Flight singles.
Gaucho duo Sultan/Galskov added a win in the back draw of A Flight Doubles against Bohuslav/Kiyabu (LMU) 8-6 to advance to the consolation finals. UCSB’s Riminton/Hamilton dropped their match against Bacharach/Wade in the back draw and will play for seventh place on Sunday.
Newcomer Erik Johnsson added two wins in the B Flight singles back draw, both coming against Gaucho teammates. Johnsson defeated fellow freshman Luke Steeb 6-4, 6-2 and outlasted Miles Seemann in three sets 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 to play for 9th place.
Miles Seemann won his first match against Fabio Tomasetti (NAU) in three sets before losing to Johnsson and Luke Steeb won his subsequent match against Robin Kiyabu (UCSD) 5-7, 6-3, 6-4. Seemann will play for 11th place and Steeb will have a chance to grab a 13th place finish.
In the same flight, freshman Corey Karen dropped his first match but won in Saturday’s second round of singles against Cal’s Jordan Smith 6-4, 7-6 to play for 5th place on Sunday.
The final day of the UCSB Classic is slated to begin at 9AM on Sunday, beginning with a round of doubles and finishing up with the final round of singles matches.
