Lopes sweep gives perfect debut for Wilson

Wednesday, January 14

Phoenix, Ariz.

10:30 AM

Grand Canyon

Idaho

Photo by: Bryce Fairchild

1/15/2026 10:18:00 AM | Men's Tennis

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Photo Gallery Photo Gallery 2

New GCU coach's era gets underway with 2 dual home wins

By: Tyler Killgore

The Grand Canyon men's tennis team got its season off to a red-hot start Wednesday by defeating Idaho 5-2 and 6-1 at GCU Tennis Facility.

The Lopes started the early match by clinching the doubles point with success from sophomore Daniel Jankoski and senior Brice Patoux as the court 1 pair won 6-2.

Over on court 2, GCU freshman Tristan Berard and sophomore Andreas Loaizas clinched the doubles point for GUC with a 6-3 win over Mikolaj Lis and Sander Paradis of Idaho 6-3.

Grand Canyon went on to win with single play in the three-hour dual.

In his Court 1 debut, Loizas defeated Lis 6-3, 6-2. Finishing next was Patoux with a 6-2, 7-5 victory that put GCU ahead 3-0.

Berard, the lengthy freshman from France, battled out a singles victory after losing the first set 6-3. He swept the second set 6-0 to set himself up for the win with a 6-3 third set.

The most exciting match of the day came from Court 4, where sophomore Diordan Macababbad trailed 3-0 in the first set and 5-3 in the second set. Macababbad pulled off two comebacks to win 6-4, 7-6 (7-3 ).

"It felt surreal to be honest," Macabbad said. "I just started swinging, if I am being honest. I figured, being down in both sets, I need to just start swinging."

Macababbad also gave credit to Lopes first-year head coach Ross Wilson for his pair of comeback wins.

"He brought the energy and brought me back up," Macababbad said. "He is one of the biggest reasons I was able to even come back when I was down, so we are off to a great start."

In the second match of the day, the Lopes started right where they left off.

On Court 1 in doubles, Jankoski and Patoux defeated Chetanna Amadike and Gabriel Moroder of Idaho 7-5.

Loizas and Berard fell to Idaho, losing 6-4, leaving it up to Macababbad and freshman Heremana Courte to secure the doubles point.

The new duo completed a comeback from down three games to give the Lopes a 7-5 victory and clinch the doubles point.

In singles, GCU showed dominance with Macababbad winning 6-1, 6-2 on Court 4.

Berard also went to work, winning 6-3, 6-2 on Court 2 to move to 2-0 in singles play.

Courte, the freshman from New Caledonia, battled against Idaho's Noe De Col, winning the lengthy first set 7-6 (14-12) and 6-2 in the last set.

With the match already clinched, the Vandals and Lopes decided to play out all matches. Jankoski defeated Idaho's Moroder 6-7, 7-6 and a 10-6 tiebreaker-style third set.

The Lopes finished the 3 1/2-hour match on Court 6, where Patoux dominated Eric Wang 6-0, 6-3.

GCU stays at home for a 1 p.m. Friday match against New Mexico State.