Two-time All-American Bassam Beidas will lead the No. 14 men’s tennis team Friday afternoon against cross-town rival and No. 1-ranked USC. The 8-1 Trojans who lost last weekend to No. 8 Texas will face the Waves at 1 p.m. at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center.
“We want to win Beidas said. We want to go undefeated at home this year and beating USC will be a big step toward that and will give us great confidence for the upcoming period of big matches.”
Pepperdine is 3-2 this season losing to the No. 2 and No. 3 teams in the nation- Ohio State and UCLA respectively. While both losses were on the road the Waves hope the home-court advantage Friday will give them the extra edge to pull off the win against the top-ranked team.
Beidas who is 17-3 in singles this season says that against USC the team will need to focus on playing their best from the moment the games begin.
“We need to start well in both singles and doubles he said. It is difficult to come from behind against the best teams and the caliber of the teams we are playing against. The most important thing is the start for us. If we start well it will make life a lot easier.”
With needed fan support for one of the biggest matches of the season the first 100 fans to come Friday will get free Chick-fil-A sandwiches.
The Waves will enter the match with an week of both ups and downs. Last Friday Ohio State defeated Pepperdine 6-1. Freshman Finn Tearney earned the win with a impressive No. 5 singles matchup against the No. 34 nationally ranked Buckeye Shuhei Uzawa. The match concluded with 4-6 6-4 and 6-3.
On Sunday the Waves traveled to Ann Arbor and defeated No. 36-ranked Michigan. The Waves lost in doubles but came back strong in singles to take a 5-2 victory against the Wolverines.
Hugh Clarke played with Beidas in No. 1 doubles. They were defeated in two sets (9-8 7-5). Nonetheless Clarke was not disappointed with his play.
“At No. 1 doubles I felt like a played a pretty good match overall Clarke said. Bassam and I have had a few tough losses recently to some quality doubles teams but I think if I can improve my returns a little and Bassam can improve his serve we will be a very good doubles pair.”
Clarke said with strong singles play the Waves need to be able to pull out the doubles win in upcoming matches.
“As far as improvement is concerned we have been heavily focused on doubles because the last few matches we haven’t been able to grab the doubles point he said. It is really helpful to not rely on our singles play all the time.”
Beidas ranked No. 90 in the nation played against No. 73-nationally ranked Wolverine Evan King in No. 1 singles and came out on top in two straight sets 6-2 7-6. Sophomore Alex Llompart also won at No. 3 singles as did Tearney at No. 5. The two additionally formed a winning duo at No. 2 doubles— the only doubles win of the day.
