SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF. – USC sophomore Emilio Gomez reigned supreme at the Battle in the Bay this weekend, capping off the San Francisco tournament with a singles championship. Gomez was one of three Trojans in the mix over the weekend, joining Jonny Wang and Eric Johnson in the Bay Area. Seeded second in the singles draw, Gomez finished off his run with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Pepperdine’s Hugh Clark today in the singles title match.
On Thursday (Oct. 13), USC’s Jonny Wang and No. 2 seed Emilio Gomez both got out of the gates with solid 6-3, 6-3 wins in their respective Round of 32 singles matches. Eric Johnson had a longer go of it, meanwhile, as he gutted ouf a 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 comeback effort to advance. Johnson would be upended in the Round of 16 by San Diego’s Thibaut Visay, whom Gomez would match up against in the Quarterfinals. Gomez dominated in his Round of 16 match, losing just one game in the match with Pacific’s Alex Golding, to set up for the quarters. He would be joined in that round by Wang, who also made short work of his Round of 16 opponent. In the quarterfinals, Wang was engaged in an all-out battle with Stanford’s Daniel Ho, who managed to pull out a marathon win over Wang with a 3-6, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (2) decision. Gomez also had a three-setter on his hands in the quarters, but the Trojan sophomore rang up a 1-6, 6-3, 6-1 comeback over Visay to take a semifinal spot. There, Gomez settled bac
k in and powered through Boise State’s Andy Bettles with a 6-2, 6-3 victory to take his place in the title match.
On the doubles side, Gomez and Johnson teamed up for a journey to Saturday’s semifinals, as the Trojan pair topped teams from Stanford and Boise State before falling in the semis in a tough 9-7 decision to Pepperdine’s Sofaer/Clark.
Full USC results from the Battle in the Bay are below.
BATTLE IN THE BAY (San Francisco, Calif.)
SINGLES
Round of 32 – Oct. 13
Jonny Wang (USC) def. Gavin Leon (SMC) -- 6-3, 6-3
Eric Johnson (USC) def. Saad Benkirane (SMC) -- 5-7, 7-5, 6-2
[2] Emilio Gomez (USC) def. Robert Stinemann (STAN) -- 6-3, 6-3
Round of 16 – Oct. 14
Jonny Wang (USC) def. Garrett Patton (BS) -- 6-3, 6-1
Thibaut Visay (USD) def. Eric Johnson (USC) -- 6-1, 6-1
[2] Emilio Gomez (USC) def. Alex Golding (PAC) -- 6-0, 6-1
Quarterfinals – Oct. 15
Daniel Ho (STAN) def. Jonny Wang (USC) -- 3-6, 7-6(6), 7-6(2)
[2] Emilio Gomez (USC) def. Thibaut Visay (USD) -- 1-6, 6-3, 6-1
Semifinals – Oct. 15
[2] Emilio Gomez (USC) def. Andy Bettles (BSU) -- 6-2, 6-3
Championship – Oct. 16
[2] Emilio Gomez (USC) def. Hugh Clark (PEP) -- 6-3, 6-4
DOUBLES
Round of 16 – Oct. 13
Gomez/Johnson (USC) def. Ho/Ball (STAN) -- 8-5
Quarterfinals – Oct. 14
Gomez/Johnson (USC) def. Patton/Sears (BSU) -- 8-6
Semifinals – Oct. 15
Sofaer/Clark (PEP) def. Gomez/Johnson (USC) -- 9-7
