LAS VEGAS, Nev. — The UC Davis men's tennis team got off to a blistering start Wednesday at the Mountain West Fall Championships presented by Palm Casino Resort with all five Aggies entered in the event - Cyrus Ahmad, Nadaul Cheam, Perry DiGiulio, Ivan Savkin and Kaveh Taheri - winning Round of 32 singles matches.
DiGiulio closed out the fantastic performance by the entire squad with a grueling three-set victory over New Mexico's David Schwarc (6-4, 5-7, 7-6(7-4)) on Court 17 in a match that lasted three hours and nine minutes. DiGiulio trailed 6-5 in the final set but broke Schwarc for his ninth service break of the match to force a 13-point third-set tiebreaker, which came down to the final point before DiGulio prevailed, 7-6.
Each of the Aggies other four singles winners prevailed in straight sets.
Ahmad and Taheri were the only ones needing tiebreakers with Ahmad posted a 6-4, 7-6(8-6) triumph over fifth-seeded Victor Lima of Grand Canyon, while Taheri was a 7-6(7-5), 6-3 winner against Hawaii's Simon Knezevic. Savkin defeated Grand Canyon's Charlie Pade (6-2, 7-5), while Cheam needed just an hour and 13 minutes to dispatch UNLV's Arda Karakas (6-4, 6-2).
Round of 16 matches for the Aggies on Thursday include three against seeded opponents with Cheam facing second-seeded Nikos Lehmann of Grand Canyon, DiGiulio playing sixth-seeded Andreas Loizas of Grand Canyon and Taheri taking on eighth-seeded Dario Ciobotaru of New Mexico.
Savkin, the Aggie's only seeded singles' player at No. 7, will battle Hawaii's Soeren Grandke and Ahmad challenges New Mexico's Alberto Perez.
Ahmad and Cheam also won in doubles action Wednesday with an 8-6 Round of 16 win over Nevada's Nicolas Recoura and Remy Tregoures.
Ahmad and Cheam will take on UNLV's Samuel Pohl and Joel Gibson in a Thursday quarterfinal.
Savkin and Taheri suffered the Aggies' only defeat Wednesday, falling 8-3 in a Round of 32 doubles match to UNLV's Yazid Lahjomri and Aubin Rouillon.
All five Aggies' singles Round of 16 singles' matches at the Darling Tennis Center on Thursday are scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. PT, while the doubles match for Ahmad and Cheam is slated for Noon.
The singles and doubles champions from the five-day Mountain West tournament that concludes Sunday will represent the league at the ITA Conference Masters Championships Nov. 5-8 in Rome, Georgia.
Additional information about the event can be found by visiting the Mountain West Championships Central.
ABOUT UC DAVIS ATHLETICS
UC Davis Athletics represents one of the nation's premier public universities on the NCAA Division I stage, with more than 650 student-athletes competing across 25 sports, including 16 programs in the Mountain West Conference. Located in California's quintessential college town, UC Davis combines championship-level athletics with the academic excellence of the nation's No. 8 public research university and is home to the nation's No. 1 programs in agriculture, veterinary medicine and sustainability. With a growing national media presence, bold investments in facilities and the student-athlete experience, and a tradition of developing champions in competition, in the classroom and beyond, the Aggies are elevating UC Davis on a national stage.
For more information, visit ucdavisaggies.com.
