Fischer, Nedunchezhiyan miss meet to prepare

for All-American

Even though the Washington men’s tennis team was not able to take home any titles at the Bulldog Classic, many individuals still had strong finishes at the season-opening tournament in Fresno, Calif. during the weekend.

The most notable finishers played in the ‘B’ flight, where Husky sophomores Alex Rosinski, Skyler Tateishi and redshirt sophomore Brad Bator were grouped. Although the three were eliminated from the main draw after losing in the first round, both Tateishi and Bator made it into the semifinals of the consolation bracket.

Bator held a 3-2 lead over his first opponent, Zac Tsai of UC-Irvine, but had to retire at that point due to injury.

Tateishi, however, was able to advance to the finals after defeating Luis Rattenhuber of San Diego State 6-4, 6-3. In the finals, it was Tateishi’s turn to face Tsai. Tateishi was less successful than his UW teammate, falling to Tsai in a super tiebreak, 4-6, 6-3, (10-1).

In flight ‘C’ of the tournament, redshirt freshman Matt Stith made his career debut for Washington with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Troy Kellenberger of Fresno City College, but was defeated in the second round in a much more grueling three-setter.

In the top flight for the Huskies, junior Derek Drabble got off to a good start with two swift, straight-set wins the first day of the tournament to advance to the quarterfinals. Drabble was out-matched the next day, though, as he fell in the quarterfinals to top-seeded Pedro Zerbini of California, 6-4, 6-1. Both he and his doubles partner, sophomore Martin Kildahl, suffered a similar fate in the doubles draw in which they were the second seed. Although they had easily notched wins in the first and second rounds, they were eliminated in the quarters by San Diego’s doubles pair, 9-8.

Seniors David Chu and Ryo Sekiguchi also competed in the ‘A’ flight along with Drabble but were eliminated in the second and first rounds, respectively.

The UW’s relatively disappointing finish is tempered somewhat by the fact that the team was playing without its top two players, senior Patrik Fischer and sophomore Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan. The two were preparing to begin play in their season opener at the qualifying rounds of the ITA All-American Championships held in Tulsa, Okla.

Fischer and Nedunchezhiyan both earned preseason rankings of No.56 and 74, respectively — both career highs.

Reach reporter Sheena Nguyen at sports@dailyuw.com.