Gallardo Scores Upset At Pac-10 Championships - University of Oregon Athletics

OJAI, Calif. ? The Oregon men’s tennis team had a busy day of action on Thursday afternoon at the Pac-10 Men’s Tennis Championships.

With eight singles players competing in two different singles brackets, the Ducks had three wins including a significant upset.

In the Pac-10 Men’s Singles Championships, which takes the top four singles players from each team, sophomore Francisco Gallardo was the only Oregon player to score a win, upsetting the bracket’s sixth seed.

Gallardo knocked off Washington’s Patrik Fisher, also the country’s 86^th-ranked player in the country, 0-6, 6-1, 7-6 (8-6) in the Round of 32. But Gallardo’s run was ended in the Round of 16, when he fought hard but fell to USC’s Gary Sacks, 7-6 (7), 6-4, currently the 72nd-ranked player in the nation.

Oregon sophomore Geoff Embry almost disrupted the entire bracket, playing toe-to-toe with USC’s Kaes Van’t Hof, the No. 2 seed at the tournament, and currently 34^th-ranked player in the nation. But it was not to be as Van’t Hof prevailed, 7-6, 6-4.

“I thought it was a great day for Paco,” Director of Nils Schyllander said. “He played some very smart and solid tennis...the same goes for Geoff, he took the No. 2 seed down to the wire.”

The Ducks No.1 player the majority of the season, Marcos Verdasco, fell to UCLA’s Michael Look, 6-1, 6-1 in the Round of 32. Oregon sophomore Alex Cornelissen lost 6-1, 6-3 to the bracket’s fifth seed, Mathieu Dehaine of UCLA.

In the Pac-10 Men’s Invitational Bracket, two Oregon players recorded victories in the Round of 32. Sophomore Romeo Mortera defeated Cal’s Zach Gilbert, 6-3, 7-5, to advance to the Round of 16. The native of Portland then lost to Washington’s Tobi Obenaus, 6-1, 7-6 (6), missing out on tomorrow’s quarterfinals.

Junior Mikael Myrhed also had a win in the Round of 32, defeating Stanford’s Ted J. Kelly, 6-3, 6-3. In the Round of 16, Myrhed’s run was ended by the bracket’s top seed, USC’s Abdullah Magdas, 6-3, 6-1.

Oregon’s two freshmen also competed in the invitational bracket. Doug Mayeda lost to Magdas in the Round of 32, 6-2, 6-1, while Duncan MacDonald-Korth fell to Arizona State’s Wes Miller, the No. 4 seed, 7-6, 7-5.

Sophomore Stephen Wiechert fell to Stanford’s Paul Morrissey, 7-5, 6-3, in the Round of 32 as well.

While singles action is over for Oregon, the Ducks will compete in doubles play tomorrow. Oregon has two doubles team in the Pac-10 Men’s Doubles Championship bracket. Embry and Mortera will play the team of Geoffrey Chizever and Pedro Zerbini at 9 a.m. The California duo is the bracket’s No. 4 seed.

Cornelissen and Verdasco will play Stanford’s Ted J. Kelly and Blake Muller at 10 a.m. The winners will move onto the quarterfinals taking place Friday afternoon.

In the Pac-10 Men’s Doubles Invitational bracket, MacDonald-Korth will team with Mayeda to play Martin Kidahl and Tobi Obenaus of Washington at 9 a.m, while Gallardo and Wiechert are marked for a 10.a.m. match with Washington’s Bradley E. Bator and David Chu. The winners move onto the quarterfinals Friday afternoon.

PAC-10 MEN’S SINGLES CHAMPIONSHIP

Round of 32

Francisco Gallardo (ORE) def. (6) Patrik Fisher (WASH), 0-6, 6-1, 7-6 (8-6)

(2) Kaes Van’t Hof (USC) def. Geoff Embry (ORE), 7-6, 6-4

Michael Look (UCLA) def. Marcos Verdasco (ORE), 6-1, 6-1

(5) Mathieu Dehaine (UCLA) def. Alexander Cornelissen (ORE), 6-1, 6-3

Round of 16

Gary Sacks (USC) def. Francisco Gallardo (ORE), 7-6 (7), 6-4

PAC-10 MEN’S SINGLES INVITATIONAL

Round of 32

Romeo Mortera (ORE) def. Zach Gilbert (CAL), 6-3, 7-5

Mikael Myrhed (ORE) def. Ted J. Kelly (STAN), 6-3, 6-3

(1) Abdullah Magdas (USC) def. Doug Mayeda (ORE), 6-2, 6-1

(4) Wes Miller (ASU) def. Duncan MacDonald-Korth (ORE), 7-6, 7-5

Paul Morissey (STAN) def. Stephen Wiechert (ORE), 7-5, 6-3

Round of 16

Tobi Obenaus (WASH) def. Romeo Mortera (ORE), 6-1, 7-6 (6)

(1) Abdullah Magdas (USC) def. Mikael Myrhed (ORE), 6-3, 6-1