The UCSB men’s tennis team (1-0) picked up a dual match season-opening win over San Francisco Saturday afternoon defeating the Dons 5-2 in a match that saw the Gauchos achieve many “firsts.” It was the first win of the 2022 season, the first win in the team’s first match at the beautiful Arnhold Tennis Center, and it was the first career win for head coach Blake Muller.
The six-time defending Big West champs got the ball rolling early in doubles play as sophomores Phillip Jordan and Kai Brady made quick work of their opponents on court one and picked up a 6-1 win.
Freshman Gianluca Brunkow and sophomore Pablo Masjuan saw a tough battle on court three but fought through adversity to seal the doubles point with a 6-4 victory.
Into the singles round the Gauchos rolled as Jordan wasted no time picking up his first solo win of the season on court one 6-1, 6-1 over USF’s Phuc Huynh to give his team a 2-0 lead in the match.
Brunkow was next putting UCSB just a match away at 3-0 with his 6-1, 7-5 win on court six over USF’s David Woodland.
The final dagger came on court four where Brady took down Don Stevie Gould 6-4, 6-3 to clinch the match for the Gauchos.
With courts two, three, and five all tied up after two sets after, a 10-point third set was played on all three courts.
Senior Viktor Krustev managed to win his battle on court two over Nitzan Ricklis, while the Dons took wins on three and five to make the final score 5-2 in UCSB’s favor.
The Gauchos will now hit the road to face LMU Friday and Utah on Saturday. Both matches will be played in Los Angeles.
Daniel Moebus-Bowles works in communications/media relations at UCSB.
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