Men's Tennis' Tapiador Barajas and Doubles Teams Advance

Jesus Tapiador Barajas

Posted: Sep 30, 2016

DAVIS, Calif. – Santa Clara men's tennis opened up its season on Friday with day one of the UC Davis Aggie Invitational. Freshman Jesus Tapiador Barajas advanced to the singles quarterfinal in flight A and all three doubles teams won their first-round matches.

"There were some positives from today and also some good moments for us to learn from," head coach Niall Angus said. "We're a bit behind because we're on the quarter system so we started school later than some of these teams but it was a good day for us. It was a good opportunity, especially for the freshman, to shake off the nerves and see what the competition is like. Now we can get a good bearing on what we need to work on."

It was quite the debut for Tapiador Barajas, who upset the No. 2 seeded Ruadhan O'Sullivan (Gonzaga) in his round of 32 match, 6-3; 3-6; 7-5, and then defeated Yale Goldberg (Stanford) in the round of 16, 6-4; 6-4. The Spaniard will face No. 7 seed Mikus Losbergs (Sacramento State) at 10 a.m. PT on Saturday.

"Jesus' first match was incredible," Angus said. "He was down 5-0 in the third set and he saved three match points and then came back to win that match and now he's in the quarterfinals. He had a great day and it was awesome to get him off to a great start as a Bronco."

All three of the SCU doubles teams, two of which were in flight A and one was in flight B, advanced to the quarterfinal round. Sophomores Connor Garnett and Robert Seby were victorious along with sophomore Andrew Gu and freshman Vasileios Iliopoulos in flight A. Tapiador Barajas and sophomore Kamran Khan won their match in flight B.

"We had a great doubles showing today, "Angus said. "I think it was great for Gu and Vasileios (Iliopoulos) to get a good win against Cal, which is obviously a tough school. The other two teams played and beat two conference teams which are always good wins."

The competition resumes tomorrow for the Broncos at 8:30 a.m. PT with the doubles quarterfinal matches leading off the day.

"Tomorrow, I'm looking for more confidence from the guys," Angus said. "For those who didn't have a great start to the season, I would like to see them putting into practice what they learned today. Jesus gets to play against a very good player from Sacramento State and we have great opportunities in doubles to progress."

UC Davis Aggie Invitational – Friday Results
Sept. 30 – Oct. 2, 2015 at Marya Welch Tennis Center

Singles
Round of 32 – Flight A
James Wade (UC Davis) def. Vasileios Iliopoulos, 6-1; 6-1
William Genesen (Stanford) def. Andrew Gu, 6-4; 6-3
Bjorn Hoffmann (California) def. Robert Seby, 7-5; 6-4
Jesus Tapiador Barajas def. No. 2 Ruadhan O'Sullivan (Gonzaga), 6-3; 3-6; 7-5

Round of 16 – Flight A
Jesus Tapiador Barajas def. Yale Goldberg (Stanford), 6-4; 6-4

Round of 16 – Flight A Consolation
Roy Lederman (Stanford) def. Vasileios Iliopoulos, 7-6 (6); 6-4
Andrew Gu def. Paul Giraud (San Francisc), 6-2; 6-2
Jesse Ross (UC Davis) def. Robert Seby, 7-6 (6); 7-5

Round of 32 – Flight B
Kamran Khan def. Jonathan Aremon (Nevada), 6-3; 6-4
No. 2 Connor Garnett def. Kyle Everly (Gonzaga), 6-2; 6-3

Round of 16 – Flight B
Eli Whittle (UC Davis) def. Kamran Khan, 6-1; 6-2
Ryan Shen (California) def. Connor Garnett, 0-6; 6-3; 6-3

Doubles
Round of 16 – Flight A
Garnett/Seby (SCU) def. Jordaan/Vollenweider (St. Mary's), 8-6
Gu/Iliopoulos (SCU) def. Hoffmann/Barretto (California), 8-2

Round of 16 – Flight B
Barajas/Khan (SCU) def. Madison/Sundaram (Portland), 8-5