Los Angeles, Calif., - The Nebraska men’s tennis team wrapped up play at the 66th Annual ITA Championships with four wins.
In the qualifying rounds of singles, Rudi Christiansen outmatched Portland’s Maxim Groysman in three sets to advance to the main draw. The back-and-forth match had a final score of 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(6). In Nikolay Sysoev’s qualifying match, the sophomore battled but fell to Nikolas Tvedt from Portland, 7-6(5), 6-4.
Anton Shepp and Sysoev also took on the qualifying round of doubles play on day one. The Huskers duo found success, defeating Portland’s Nicolas Ocana and Cade Fernando, 6-3.
The Huskers came up short in day two, losing both of their matches. Shepp and Sysoev opened the day with their first main draw doubles match against USC’s Samuel Rubell and Niroop Vallabhaneni. The pair fell to the number one seeded Trojans, 3-6.
In the singles round of 32, Christiansen faced Trojan Karl Kazuma Lee. Lee defeated Christiansen in two sets, 6-4, 6-2.
On day three, Christiansen and Sysoev took on extra singles matches, both coming out on top. Christiansen defeated Cal Poly Slo’s Fernando Fonseca, 6-1, 7-6. Sysoev dropped his first set against Matthew Burton from Oregon, but turned it around for the 1-6, 7-5, [10-6] win.
Senior Nic Wiedenhorn withdrew from the tournament before play began, and Shepp withdrew from singles play on day two.
Rudi Christiansen
QR32: Rudi Christiansen (NEB) def. Maxim Groysman (Portland): 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(6)
R32: Karl Kazuma Lee (USC) def. Rudi Christiansen (NEB): 6-4, 6-2
Extra Match: Rudi Christiansen (NEB) def. Fernando Fonseca (Cal Poly Slo): 6-1, 7-6
Nikolay Sysoev
QR64: Nikolas Tvedt (Portland) def. Nikolay Sysoev (NEB): 7-6(5), 6-4
Extra Match: Nikolay Sysoev (NEB) def. Matthew Burton (Oregon): 1-6, 7-5, [10-6]
Anton Shepp/Nikolay Sysoev
QR16: Anton Shepp/Nikolay Sysoev (NEB) def. Nicolas Ocana/Cade Fernando (Portland): 6-3
R16: Samuel Rubell/Niroop Vallabhaneni (USC) def. Anton Shepp/Nikolay Sysoev (NEB): 6-3
Up next, the Huskers will compete in San Diego, Calif., for the ITA National Championship Tournament starting Nov. 1. Stay tuned to the Nebraska Men’s Tennis social channels to keep up with upcoming fall play updates and content.