Pepperdine Men’s Tennis began their season with a 4-3 win Jan. 28, at home over Georgia Tech. Although they lost the double point, they turned the score around in singles.
The Waves are the second ranked team in the WCC and started off the competition strong with the undefeated Yellow Jackets.
“We focused on what we should do and the energy we bring and the way we want to compete,” senior Pietro Fellin said.
The Waves fell in doubles but put up a fight despite a slow start. Freshman Ed Winters and sophomore Maxi Homberg along with the majority of the Waves lost their initial sets.
“I feel like we didn’t have the energy in the beginning, and we were not awake,” Homberg said.
Assistant Coach Tassilo Schmid spoke with Winters and Homberg, and they regained confidence but ended their match 2-6.
Graduate students Chris Papa and Tyler Davis also lost 4-6 on the third court despite their energy.
The match to watch was with Fellin and sophomore Linus Carlsson Halldin who traded sets with their opponents up until the end. All eyes were on them it ended at 4-5 due to the doubles being decided in favor of the Yellow Jackets.
After a quick break, the Waves came back for a redemption in singles as they won 4-3 overall.
Homberg and Fellin set the tone early by dominating their Yellow Jacket opponents in two sets each.
“I focused on what I should do and not [on] him and after that it was smooth sailing,” Fellin said.
Homberg did not even allow his opponent to score in the second set of 6-0.
“I’m really happy with how I played,” Homberg said. “I was more focused on the team and took the pressure off myself.”
Papa came out strong in his match and quickly dominated 6-2. His opponent gave him some competition, but he finished the second set 5-4 for another win for the Waves.
Winter, who is ranked 23 in the nation, had a slow start and did not score until deep into second. He quickly made changes and scored six points unanswered from his hornet opponent. The first set ended in a tie breaker, and he fell 7-6.
The last set was not as close, and he lost 2-6.
The day came down to courts 1 and 8 as both Halldin and freshman Zach Stephens battled in three sets.
After a tough loss of 1-6 in the first set, Halldin redeemed himself in the second in an even match. The Yellow Jacket led strongly in the third and Halldin lost 3-6 in the end.
Stephens had an equal match with his opponent and started his first set down 4-6. He came back to clinch the win of 6-4 for the waves in the second and third.
Even after losing the doubles point 0-1, the Waves rallied to bring the win home. Performances by Stephen, Fellin and Homberg brought energy to the courts at Pepperdine.
“We did a lot of team building stuff, and I think our team culture is really good,” Homberg said.
The next Waves match is at home Feb. 2, at 2 p.m., against Arizona State.
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Email Megan Harkey: megan.harkey@pepperdine.edu
