STOCKTON, Calif. - The Pacific men's tennis team concluded day two of the Pacific Invitational with wins coming from Akram El Sallaly and Tadiwa Chinamo. The two Tigers will battle one another in the semifinal match on Sunday.
Doubles began day two with Chinamo and Nathan Hampton in the quarterfinals facing off against Mikus Losbergs and Kasparas Zemaitelis, the No. 1 seeds from Sacramento State. The Tiger tandem dropped their battle with the Hornets, 8-5 to fall out of the main draw.
In singles, Hampton competed in the third round of the consolation bracket but couldn't pull out the win over Louis Chabut, another Sacramento State Hornet and fell 6-4, 7-6(4).
Chinamo, the sixth seed, continued his parade of wins as he defeated Antoine Noel, the 11th seed from Cal Poly, in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2 to move on to the quarterfinals of the main draw, where he faced the three seed, Connor Garnett of Santa Clara. Chinamo moved past the Bronco quickly, 6-4, 6-3.
Bernardo Oliveira, who is competing unattached from the Tigers in the Pacific Invitational had another three set match Saturday as he faced Losbergs in the head-to-head matchup. Oliveira took the first match 6-3, but dropped the next to, 6-2, 6-4 and was knocked out of the main draw.
El Sallaly, also competing unattached from Pacific, defeated fellow West Coast Conference opponent Vasileios Iliopoulos from Santa Clara in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4 to advance and face Axel Damiens from Cal Poly in the quarterfinals. El Sallaly topped the Mustang, 6-3, 6-4.
"We ended on a very solid note and I am really happy with what I saw from the guys today," said Ryan Redondo, head men's tennis coach. "We had some opportunities that slipped by that we can definitely dissect, learn from, and hope to get another time. Tomorrow will be a great end to the tournament with Tadiwa representing the Orange and Black!"
The final day of the Pacific Invitational begins tomorrow morning with the doubles finals, followed by the semifinals and the finals of the main draw bracket.
For updated results and draws, be sure to visit the Pacific men's tennis homepage.
