College Tennis News - Tearney Wins Title at Lakewood Ranch Clay Court Classic

SARASOTA, Fla. – The final day of the fall tournament season was a good one for the Pepperdine men’s tennis team, with two players reaching the title match of their respective tournament. Finn Tearney emerged as the singles champion at the Lakewood Ranch Clay Court Classic, while Sebastian Fanselow walked away as runner-up champion at the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championship.

Tearney (Wellington, New Zealand/Wellington College) earned the top seed in the 24-player singles bracket at the clay court tournament in Florida. The senior received a first-round bye before posting three straight-set wins to reach the finals.

The title match pitted Tearney against Andrew Vidaller of Arizona, who was seeded third overall. After getting off to a hot start and winning the first set 6-1, Tearney was edged in the second by a score of 7-5. In the deciding set, the Wave once again was in full control and won 6-1.

“Finn has been playing better and better throughout the tournament,” praised head coach Adam Steinberg. “I know he has been a little bit frustrated with how his fall has been going, but he’s been working hard and it’s finally all coming together.”

In doubles, Tearney teamed up with Kento Tanaka-Tamaki (Kihei, Hawaii/St. Anthony Junior-Senior HS) and reached the semifinal round. It was the first time the two had teamed up together in doubles.

Meanwhile in Queens, N.Y. at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center – home of the U.S. Open – Fanselow (Essen, Germany) battled for a national title at the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championship.

The two-time All-American, who only began training just a few short weeks ago due to injury, made a brilliant run through the talent-heavy bracket. In the semifinals, Fanselow knocked out the top-seeded Alex Domijan of Virginia in a thrilling three set match.

The senior fell short in the finals however, suffering a 6-2, 6-1 defeat to #2-ranked Jarmere Jenkins.

“I’m disappointed with the result of today’s match, but overall I think it was a great tournament. Reaching the finals definitely exceeded my expectations after only practicing for a few weeks,” said Fanselow following the match, “Winning yesterday gave me a lot of motivation for the dual season.”

Yesterday, Fanselow was awarded for his never-wavering composer on the court was selected by a panel of coaches, officials and tournament committee members as the USTA/ITA Sportsmanship award winner.

After four-straight singles wins at the Southern California Intercollegiate Championship in Los Angeles, David Sofaer (Bellevue Hill, Australia/Sydney Distance Education HS) bowed out in the quarterfinal round. Sofaer traded sets with #91-ranked Thibaut Visy of West Coast Conference San Diego before suffer a 6-3 loss in the third.

This weekend’s three tournaments was the grand finale to the fall tournament season. The Waves open the 2013 dual season on January 20 when they welcome Pacific to the courts of the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center.

Lakewood Ranch Clay Court Classic
Nov 9-11, 2012 at Sarasota, Fla. (Lakewood Ranch Country Club)
Singles
R32 Kento Tanaka-Tamaki (Pepperdine) def. Robbie Dubuque (Florida Atlantic) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
R16 Andrew Vidaller (Arizona) def. Kento Tanaka-Tamaki (Pepperdine) 6-3, 6-0
R16 #14 Finn Tearney (Pepperdine) def. Matt Browne (Furman) 7-5, 6-4
QF   #14 Finn Tearney (Pepperdine) def. Billy Federhofer (Florida) 6-2, 6-2
SF   #14 Finn Tearney (Pepperdine) def. Gordon Watson (Florida) 6-2, 6-2
Finals #14 Finn Tearney (Pepperdine) def. Andrew Vidaller (Arizona) 6-1, 5-7, 6-1

Doubles
QF   Finn Tearney/Kento Tanaka-Tamaki (Pepperdine) def. Thomas Proisy/Michael Alford (Florida) 8-1
SF   Juan Pablo Ramirez/Mathieu Froment (Minnesota) def. Finn Tearney/Kento Tanaka-Tamaki (Pepperdine) 8-4

USTA/ITA National Indoor Championship
Nov 8-11, 2012 at Flushing, N.Y. (USTA Billie Jean King Tennis Center)
Singles
R32 #3 Sebastian Fanselow (Pepperdine) def. #10 KU Singh (Georgia) 7-6 (8-6), 6-4
R16 #3 Sebastian Fanselow (Pepperdine) def. Julian Lenz (Baylor) 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
QF   #3 Sebastian Fanselow (Pepperdine) def. #9 Ray Sarmiento (USC) 6-1, 6-2
SF   #3 Sebastian Fanselow (Pepperdine) def. #8 Alex Domijan (Virginia) 6-4, 3-6, 7-5
Finals #2 Jarmere Jenkins (Virginia) def. #3 Sebastian Fanselow (Pepperdine) 6-2, 6-1

Southern California Intercollegiate
Nov 7-11, 2012 at Los Angeles, Calif. (Los Angeles Tennis Center)
Singles
Q-R1 David Sofaer (Pepperdine) def. Ganesh Alagappan (UC San Diego) 6-0, 6-0
Q-R2 David Sofaer (Pepperdine) def. Andrew Carlisle (San Diego) 6-1, 6-1
MD-R32 #63 Mousheg Hovhannisyan (Pepperdine) def. Francis Sargeant (BYU) 1-6, 6-2, 6-1
MD-R32 Romain Kalaydijian (San Diego) def. Damian Gryzelko (Pepperdine) 6-3, 6-1
MD-R32 David Sofaer (Pepperdine) def. Jochem Hoefnagels (Azusa Pacific) 7-6 (7-2), 6-4
MD-R16 David Sofaer (Pepperdine) def. John Pearce (BYU) 6-1, 7-5
MD-R16 #119 Clarke Spinosa (San Diego) def. #63 Mousheg Hovhannisyan (Pepperdine) 6-4, 6-1
MD-QF #91 Thibaut Visy (San Diego) def. David Sofaer (Pepperdine) 6-3, 2-6, 6-3
Cons. Ziad Sultan (UC Santa Barbara) def. Damian Gryzelko (Pepperdine) 6-2, 6-1

Doubles
MD-R16 Travis Fillmore/Francis Sargeant (BYU) def. Mousheg Hovhannisyan/Damian Gryzelko (Pepperdine) 8-1