Los Angeles, Calif. (November 3, 2004) The men's tennis team not only gets a chance to play this weekend against great competition on the sunny courts of the Los Angeles Tennis Club, they also get a history lesson as they compete where former greats played.
Pro tennis legends such as Arthur Ashe, Stan Smith, Brad Gilbert and even BYU's own Head Coach Brad Pearce played and won tournaments here.
"This place has such great history, and a great tradition," said Coach Pearce, who won the tournament in 1985 while playing for UCLA. "Anybody who knows tennis knows of the L.A. Tennis Club."
The magic of 85' seems to be rubbing off on Pearce's players as six out of the eight players on the roster made it past the qualifying rounds and into the singles main draw of 32.
To qualify for the singles main draw of 32 players, all but one of BYU's players had to win two qualifying matches. Then, those who win their two matches are seeded into the main draw.
Because of Cougar Jeff Das's high ranking, he qualified for an immediate berth into the main draw of the tournament, skipping the qualifying rounds.
Those advancing in singles are Jonathan Sanchez, Chip Hand, Nima Roshan, Dominik Kaufhold and Jose Lechuga.
BYU Freshman Shane LaPorte lost his second match to USC's Van't hoff 7-5,7-6 while sophomore transfer James Ludlow was defeated by Pepperdine's Borzenki 6-4,6-4.
"Overall, we had a great day against some of the country's best competition," Pearce said. "Going five of seven on the first day is a great sign."
The main draw opens up tomorrow at 10 am.
First Round (64)
Shane LaPorte def. Andrew Bertolina (USF) 6-0:6-1
James Ludlow def. Gordon Hong (APU) 6-3.7-6
Jonathan Sanchez def. Adam Davidson (APU) 6-4.6-4
Chip Hand (BYE)
Nima Roshan def. Chrstian Frick (UC Riverside) 6-1,6-4
Dominik Kaufold def (USCB) Andres Dalskov 6-4,6-3
Jose Lechuga def. Tom Jelsma (APU) 7-5,6-1
Second Round
K. Van't hof (USC) def. Shane LaPorte 7-5,7-6
K. Borzenki (Pep.) def. James Ludlow 6-4,6-4
Jonathan Sanchez def. B, Berglund (LMU) 7-5,7-6
Chip Hand def, A Rafidison (PEP) 6-1,6-3
Nima Roshan def B. Swwatt (UCSD) 6-3,6-4
Dominik Kaufold def N. Tam (UC Riverside) 6-3,2-6,10-8
Jose Lechuga def L. Cicenas (LMU) 6-4,6-2