UPDATE: Trojans fall at ITA All-American Tournament


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USC’s men’s and women’s tennis teams found success competing in their respective ITA All-American tournaments over the past week.

The women’s team played at the Riviera Tennis Club in Pacific Palisades, California. Senior Zoë Scandalis, who is ranked No. 15 in the nation, was the sole representative in the main singles draw for USC. In the first round, Scandalis cruised past Princeton’s No. 67-ranked Lindsay Graff, 6-1, 6-0. This put her through to the Round of 16, where she fell to third-ranked Hayley Carter of UNC, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.

Scandalis couldn’t dwell on the loss, though, as she had to turn around and keep playing in the doubles draw with her partner, junior Giuliana Olmos. Olmos and Scandalis, ranked No. 7 in the nation together now, made it to the finals of this tournament last year, and were looking to repeat their success. This year, the squad earned a bye in the first round of competition. They got off on the right foot in the Round of 16 on Oct. 2 defeating Cal’s No. 11-ranked Maegan Manasse and Denise Starr, 6-0, 6-4.

Olmos and Scandalis, who went 22-8 overall together last season, came up against Michigan’s 14th-ranked team of Sarah Lee and Ronit Yurovsky, and took home a 6-2, 7-5 win.

This earned the duo a spot in the semifinals against Stanford’s Taylor Davidson and Carol Zhao. Davidson and Zhao, who went 29-6 together last season, pulled off a straight sets win over Olmos and Scandalis, 7-6, 6-2.

The men’s team was just as busy playing in the ITA Men’s All-American Championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The Trojans earned three spots in the main singles draw and had one squad playing in the main doubles draw. Seniors Yannick Hanfmann, Roberto Quiroz and Jonny Wang all earned automatic bids to the tournament.

Hanfmann, ranked No. 2 in the nation, has not dropped a set yet in five matches for this tournament and earned a spot in the finals with a 6-3, 6-3 win over No. 20 Romain Bogaerts of Wake Forest on Sunday. He will face Louisville’s Sebastian Stiefelmeyer in the finals, who is ranked No. 110 in the nation.

In the first round, Hanfmann beat No. 36 Florian Lakat of Mississippi State, 6-2, 6-4. That win earned him a matchup against Texas’ No. 31 Lloyd Glasspool, where he pulled off a 6-1, 6-1 win. Hanfmann then advanced to the Round of 16, where he beat Harvard’s No. 18 Denis Nguyen, 6-0, 6-3. In the quarterfinals, he steamrolled Duke’s Nicolas Alvarez, 6-1, 6-1.

In typical fashion for the San Marino, California, native, Wang pulled off an impressive upset in the first round, beating Texas A&M’s No. 11-ranked Harrison Adams, 6-3, 6-3. In the Round of 32, he faced Texas Tech’s Felipe Soares, ranked No. 43 in the nation, and prevailed by a 6-3, 6-3 score again. But Wang fell to No. 17-ranked Nathan Pasha of Georgia by a 6-3, 6-4 score to end his tournament run.

Quiroz was on the other end of an upset in the first round, falling to Notre Dame’s No. 88 Quentin Monaghan. The Ecuadorian had more success in doubles, though, teaming up with Hanfmann to make the finals of the tournament.

The duo topped ranked teams from Indiana, Florida State and Vanderbilt to reach the semifinals on Sunday against Texas A&M’s Jeremy Efferding and Jordan Szabo. The Trojans prevailed, 6-1, 6-4, to earn a spot in today’s final against Tennessee’s Hunter Reese and Mikelis Libietis, the top-ranked doubles squad in the nation.

The singles final will kick off at 8 a.m. today and the doubles final begins at 11 a.m. today.

 

UPDATE:

Senior Yannick Hanfmann fell to Louisville’s No. 110 Sabastian Stiefelmeyer in the singles finals on Monday. No. 2 Hanfmann had not dropped a set all tournament, but was upset, 6-3, 6-2 by the Austrian who made his way through the qualifying rounds and all the way to the championship.

Hanfmann had his hands full again in the doubles final later in the day. Hanfmann and Quiroz, ranked No. 19 together, took on the defending ITA All-American doubles champions, Tennessee’s top-ranked Mikelis Libietis and Hunter Reese. The Trojans came up empty handed, losing 6-3, 6-4.