University of San Francisco Athletics

Day 1 Recap | Day 2 Recap

NAPA, Calif. – Through three days at the Napa Valley Collegiate Invitational, the San Francisco men's tennis team escaped unscathed in doubles competition, winning a total of six matches to highlight the Dons' opening weekend performances in Napa, Calif.

USF tandem of Bernardo Saraiva and Nils Skajaa swept through Idaho's pairing of Artemiy Nikitin and Balasz Odon Barta with a resounding 8-3 win. Not to be topped by the veteran pair for the Dons, freshman Christian Brockstedt and sophomore Thomas Takemoto took care of their competition, comprised of one Vandal alongside USF's Yezan Dayeh, with a dominating 8-2 performance.

"On the whole, this event was the perfect way to start the fall season and all the guys improved a ton," head coach Pablo Pires de Almeida said. "The level of tennis was very competitive, and our guys now know what they need to do to be successful.

"I am very impressed with the doubles play from everyone, because doubles will prove to be an important piece of our team's success this season. Also, I thought Bernardo showed good form in singles and Christian proved that he is going to be a big part of our lineup in singles and doubles with his impressive play."

In Sunday's singles competition, Saraiva nabbed his second win of the young season, knocking off Oklahoma State's Lucas Gerch 6-0, 7-5. Brockstedt earned his first win on the singles sideafter dueling fellow freshman Nathan Roper to a 6-3, 2-6, 10-6 finish.
The close-to-home event to start the season was one the Dons were grateful to add to the 2013-14 slate.

"This was a great event and we were honored to be a part of it," Pires de Almeida said. "We would like to thank the tournament organizers Jacob and Katie for their hard work as well as Jay Udwadia, the head men's tennis coach from OSU, for the invitation to participate. Our entire team would like to thank Caroline and Michael for housing the USF team and being so generous. We look forward to participating in next year's event."

USF is next in action at the Hanna Boys Fundraiser next weekend, and then Saraiva and Skajaa will represent the Dons in the ITA All-American singles and doubles draws Sept. 30 to Oct. 4, in Tulsa, Okla, to continue the fall schedule.

Napa Valley Collegiate Invitational
USF Results – Day 3
Doubles
Saraiva/Skajaa (USF) def.  Nikitin/Barta (Idaho) 8-3
Brockstedt/Takemoto def. Dayeh (USF)/(Idaho) 8-2   
                                     
Singles
No. 109 Bernardo Saraiva (USF) def. Lucas Gerch (OSU) 6-0, 7-5
Vasili Caripi (OSU) def. Nils Skajaa (USF) 6-4, 4-6, 10-7
Trevor Horstmann (OSU) def. Thomas Takemoto (USF) 6-4, 7-5
Christian Brockstedt (USF) def. Nathan Roper (OSU) 6-3, 2-6, 10-6