Lopes shut out Highlanders at home

Wednesday, February 8

Phoenix, Ariz.

10 a.m.

Grand Canyon

UC Riverside

Photo by: Zach Campbell

2/8/2023 1:21:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

Top of lineup delivers 1st home win of GCU's season

By: Jerob Moon

The Grand Canyon men's tennis team picked up their first win at home on Wednesday with a 4-0 shutout over UC Riverside at the GCU Tennis Facility.

The top of the lineup was strong as the Lopes (2-5) took the doubles point at the top two courts and three matches in singles at courts one through three.

In doubles GCU jumped ahead quickly at court two with freshman duo William Alsterback and Alfred Almasi leading 4-1 in their first match together this season. That lead would turn into a 6-1 win to give the Lopes an immediate advantage. Meanwhile at court one sophomore Jonathan Da Silva and freshman David Wekesa were locked in a tight match leading 3-2 and later 4-3. The GCU duo would end on a strong note winning two of the final three games to earn a 6-4 victory and clinch the doubles point.

In singles up 1-0 the Lopes kept the momentum and took the first set on four courts. Wekesa at No. 2 was in control of his match from the beginning jumping ahead to a 4-1 lead eventually taking the first set 6-2 and the second set 6-3. At court two Almasi was down early 2-3 in his first set but turned it around and won 6-4 and closed out his match with a 6-2 win in the second set.

Up 3-0 the Lopes just needed one more singles win to clinch the dual-match. That win came at the top court with Da Silva. The GCU sophomore won his first set easily 6-1 and overcame a 3-4 deficit by winning the final three games in his second set to win 6-1, 6-4.

With the dual-match win secured at 4-0 the remaining three matches were left unfinished but the Lopes were battling on those courts. Junior Loic Van Zeggelaar was tied at 5-5 in his second set at court four while sophomore Adrien Coulome and freshman Mattia Ghedin were heading to a third set on courts five and six.

The Lopes will head out on a weekend roadtrip to Cal Poly where they will face San Francisco in a neutral-site match on Feb. 11 and the host Mustangs on Feb. 12.