Doubles Title Guaranteed; Singles Semifinals Slated For Trojans At ITA Regionals.

MALIBU, CALIF. — USC men's tennis is guaranteed its first doubles title since 2013 at the ITA Southwest Regional Championships thanks to an upcoming all-Trojan final tomorrow (Oct. 20) in Malibu. At 10 a.m., USC's top-seeded senior duo of Brandon Holt and Riley Smith will square off against Trojan teammates Mor Bulis and Daniel Cukierman — No. 2 seeds in the draw — for the rights to claim USC's sixth regional doubles crown. USC also has a great shot at snagging a singles title tomorrow as well. There are three Trojans in tomorrow's semifinals, with Cukierman engaged in another teammate battle with freshman Stefan Dostanic. Bulis, meanwhile, has a semifinal bout with UC Santa Barbara's Joseph Guillin lined up tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. after he and Cukierman clash with their fellow Trojans in the doubles final.

Both Cukierman and Bulis carry solid singles win streaks into tomorrow's semifinals. Winner of the Milwaukee Tennis Classic singles title, sophomore Bulis has now won 10 straight singles matches this season en route to his bout with Guillin. Cukierman, who won the Oracle ITA Masters crown, grips a nine-match win streak as the #8 junior sets up to face his freshman teammate Dostanic. Today's quarterfinals featured two all-Trojan tilts, with Dostanic topping #88 sophomore Jake Sands in three sets 6-0, 4-6, 6-1. Bulis, meanwhile, faced #58 fellow sophomore Bradley Frye and notched a 6-3, 7-6 win to advance past his teammate. Top-seeded Cukierman shoved his way into the semis with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Pepperdine's Tim Zeitvogel, while No. 6 seed Riley Smith was upended by Guillin in a three-setter in his quarterfinal matchup today.

Doubles play today saw all three USC doubles duos snag Quarterfinal wins. Top-seeded Holt and Smith dished out an 8-2 win, as did freshman-sophomore combo Dostanic/Frye. No. 2 seeded Bulis and Cukierman had a tighter battle, but pulled out an 8-7 (3) decision to step on into the semis. There, veterans Holt/Smith had their hands full with the younger Trojan tandem of Dostanic/Frye. In a deciding 10-point tiebreaker, Holt/Smith secured advancement to the final with a 5-7, 7-5, 1-0 (10-6) comeback. Bulis/Cukierman, meanwhile, drummed up a straight-set win to take their place in tomorrow's all-USC doubles final.

The last USC doubles pair to win it all at the ITA Southwest Regional was Max de Vroome and Eric Johnson in 2013, which was USC's fifth title at the event. In singles, USC has also won five regional crowns, with Logan Smith winning it all last year.

Complete USC results from Malibu are listed below.

Live scoring links and updates are available at https://pepperdinewaves.com/sports/2019/10/15/sports-w-tennis-spec-rel-ncaa-18-tournament-html.aspx

Full draws and info can be found at https://www.myutr.com/events/12563?t=2

2019 ITA SOUTHWEST REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS (Malibu, Calif.)

SINGLES
First Round - Oct. 17
[1] #8 Daniel Cukierman (USC) - bye
[4] #88 Jake Sands (USC) - bye
Stefan Dostanic (USC) - bye
[7] Mor Bulis (USC) - bye
[3] #58 Bradley Frye (USC) - bye
[6] Riley Smith (USC) - bye
Cambell Nakayama (CP) def. Rae Lan (USC) - 6-1, 6-2
Ryder Jackson (USC) - bye

Round of 64 - Oct. 17
[1] #8 Daniel Cukierman (USC) def. Maximilian Wild (UCLA) - 6-1, 6-0
[4] #88 Jake Sands (USC) def. Andrew Whitehouse (CP) - 6-2, 6-0
Stefan Dostanic (USC) def. Lucas Moreno (LMU) - 6-3, 7-6 (5)
[7] Mor Bulis (USC) def. Blaine Hovenier (UCLA) - 6-3, 6-3
[3] #58 Bradley Frye (USC) def. Ignacio Martinez (SDSU) - 6-2, 6-4
[6] Riley Smith (USC) def. Jeremy Merville (NEV) - 6-2, 6-3
Ryder Jackson (USC) def. Ali Amiri (UCI) - 6-2, 6-1

Round of 32 - Oct. 18
[1] #8 Daniel Cukierman (USC) def. Connor Rapp (UCLA) - 6-1, 7-5
[4] #88 Jake Sands (USC) def. Nic Borter (USD) - 6-2, 6-3
Stefan Dostanic (USC) vs. [5] Drew Baird (UCLA) - w/o
[7] Mor Bulis (USC) def. Corrado Summaria (PEP) - 6-2, 6-1
[3] #58 Bradley Frye (USC) def. Alejandro Vedri (UCSB) - 6-2, 6-1
[6] Riley Smith (USC) def. Valentin Lang (GCU) - 6-3, 5-7, 6-1
Joseph Guillin (UCSB) def. Ryder Jackson (USC) - 5-7, 6-1, 6-2

Round of 16 - Oct. 18
[1] #8 Daniel Cukierman (USC) def. Igor Karpovets (ARIZ) - 6-3, 7-5
[4] #88 Jake Sands (USC) def. Ben Goldberg (UCLA) - 2-1 ret.
Stefan Dostanic (USC) def. Fernando Fonseca (CP) - 6-0, 6-0
[7] Mor Bulis (USC) def. Antoine Noel (CP) - 6-4, 6-3
[3] #58 Bradley Frye (USC) def. Alejandro Reguant (ARIZ) - 6-4, 7-5
[6] Riley Smith (USC) def. Luque Rico (PEP) - 5-7, 7-5, 6-4

Quarterfinals - Oct. 19
[1] #8 Daniel Cukierman (USC) def. Tim Zeitvogel (PEP) - 6-4, 6-4
Stefan Dostanic (USC) def. [4] #88 Jake Sands (USC) - 6-0, 4-6, 6-1
[7] Mor Bulis (USC) def. [3] #58 Bradley Frye (USC) - 6-3, 7-6
Joseph Guillin (UCSB) def. [6] Riley Smith (USC) - 6-7 (7), 6-2, 6-2

Semifinals - Oct. 20
[1] #8 Daniel Cukierman (USC) vs. Stefan Dostanic (USC) - 11:30 a.m.
[7] Mor Bulis (USC) vs. Joseph Guillin (UCSB) - 11:30 a.m.

DOUBLES
First Round - Oct. 17
[1] Brandon Holt / Riley Smith (USC) - bye
Stefan Dostanic / Bradley Frye (USC) - bye
Ryder Jackson / Jake Sands (USC) - bye
[2] Mor Bulis / Daniel Cukierman (USC) - bye

Round of 32 - Oct. 17
[1] Holt / R. Smith (USC) def. Hough/Scemanenco (SDSU) - 8-6
Dostanic / Frye (USC) def. Williams/Vukmanovic (UCSB) - 8-2
Nava/Nguyen Hoang (LMU) def. Jackson / Sands (USC) - 8-5
[2] Bulis / Cukierman (USC) def. Franke/Fucile (GCU) - 8-1

Round of 16 - Oct. 18
[1] Holt / R. Smith (USC) def. Luque Rico/Zeitvogel (PEP) - 8-1
Dostanic / Frye (USC) def. Rapp/Wild (UCLA) - 8-3
[2] Bulis / Cukierman (USC) def. Gamerov/Sharma (USD) - 8-3

Quarterfinals - Oct. 19
[1] Holt / R. Smith (USC) def. Borter/Norfeldt (USD) - 8-2
Dostanic / Frye (USC) def. Brown/Kaiser (LMU) - 8-2
[2] Bulis / Cukierman (USC) def. Guillin/Vedri (UCSB) - 8-7 (3)

Semifinals - Oct. 19
[1] Holt / R. Smith (USC) def. Dostanic / Frye (USC) - 5-7, 7-5, 1-0 (10-6)
[2] Bulis / Cukierman (USC) def. Krutzev/Rotheram (UCSB) - 6-4, 6-3

Championship - Oct. 20
[1] Holt / R. Smith (USC) vs. [2] Bulis / Cukierman (USC) - 10 a.m.

BACK DRAW - SINGLES
Rae Lan (USC) def. Juan - 6-2, 6-1
Alves def. Rae Lan (USC) - 7-6 (4), 6-1

Players Mentioned

Mor Bulis

Daniel Cukierman

Stefan Dostanic

Bradley Frye

Brandon Holt

Ryder Jackson

Rae Lan

Jake Sands

Logan Smith

Riley Smith