SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - In their returns to their native California, Zach Fuchs and Wally Thayne each had an undefeated day of competition on separate days at the UCSB Classic. The two-day tournament Friday and Saturday saw four BYU men’s tennis players test themselves against several nationally ranked programs.

“Wally played excellent tennis on Saturday. His serve was consistent and accurate. He beat two solid players and gets better with every match.  We are looking forward to joining the rest of the team and heading to Albuquerque for ITA Regionals," said head coach Dave Porter.

Players were divided into three different flights, with Flight A in both singles and doubles serving as the tournament’s top division.

Day One

Doubles

• Flight B: Fuchs/Vereau (BYU) def. Josserand/Gonzalez (SDSU) 8-7 (4)
• Flight A: Tripathi/Fradkin (UCLA) def. Thayne/Owen (BYU) 8-5

Singles

• Flight B: Zach Fuchs (BYU) def. Eugenio Gonzalez (SDSU) 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (5)
• Flight A: Jeffrey Fradkin (UCLA) def. Wally Thayne (BYU) 4-6, 6-3, 7-5
• Flight B: Callaway Clark (SMU) def. Mateo Vereau (BYU) 7-6, 6-4
• Flight B: Georgio Samaha (New Mexico) def. Redd Owen (BYU) 6-4, 4-6, 7-5

Los Altos, Calif. native Fuchs put on a show Friday with two wins over San Diego State. He first teamed up with Mateo Vereau for doubles, with the pair’s match going the distance to a first to seven tiebreaker. The Cougars ultimately prevailed with a three-point advantage.

Fuchs then played half of the SDSU doubles team in singles, once again prevailing in a match tiebreaker. Each player won a set with a one-break advantage in the first two frames before needing a tiebreaker to settle the third. Fuchs got the one break he needed to get past Gonzalez 7-5.

Redd Owen and Thayne both had back-and-forth singles matches of their own. After winning set one, Thayne was down 5-1 in set two before winning two-straight games, one of which included three aces in four points. The rally ultimately came up short in set two, and despite breaking Fradkin once in the third, the Newbury Park, Calif. junior was defeated in a match that took nearly 100 minutes.

Day Two

Doubles

• Flight A: Watt/Maxant (St. Mary’s) def. Thayne/Owen 8-7
• Flight B: Otico/Pantino (LMU) def. Fuchs/Vereau 8-5

Singles – Morning Session

• Flight A: Thayne def. Bastiaan Westergate (Cal Poly) 6-3, 6-2
• Flight B: Zach Pellouchoud (Cal Poly) def. Fuchs 6-1, 7-6
• Flight B: Pierre Boullenger (UCSB) def. Owen 6-4, 6-3
• Flight B: Ben Kyser (Cal Poly) def. Vereau 3-2 (retired)

Singles – Afternoon Session

• Flight A: Thayne def. Stefan Leustian (UCLA) 6-2, 6-3
• Flight B: Callaway Clark (SMU) def. Fuchs 6-2, 0-6, 6-0
• Mathieu Josserand (SDSU) def. Owen 6-3, 6-3

Thayne made quick work of his two Saturday singles matches, winning in straight sets while breaking his opponents numerous times. His ability on the return was punctuated by his match winner in the afternoon. Leustian’s serve went to Thayne’s backhand, which he hit down the line and out of Leustian’s reach to seal the win.

Fuchs and Vereau came up short in doubles after Vereau sustained a knee injury mid-match. After attempting to fight on, Vereau ultimately retired during the first set of his singles match.

The team’s next stop is Albuquerque, N.M. for the ITA Mountain Regional Championship. BYU is one of 20 teams in the Mountain Region, with the tournament serving as qualification for the ITA National Fall Championships.

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - BYU men’s tennis is heading to the UCSB Classic for the second-straight year, with the team looking to build on its success from last year. The tournament will be on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 7-8 at UC Santa Barbara’s Arnhold Tennis Center.

Zach Fuchs, Redd Owen, Wally Thayne and Mateo Vereau will represent the Cougars this weekend. Fuchs and Vereau will team up for doubles play, as will Thayne and Owen.

Schedule

Players will be divided into different divisions, which will each have single-elimination singles and doubles brackets. Consolation matches will also be played.

There will be one doubles and one singles round each day, with the potential for more matches in some divisions. Play begins at 11:00 a.m. PDT Friday.

Thayne will be in the top singles division, Flight A. Fuchs, Owen and Vereau will be in Flight B. Thayne and Owen will play their doubles matches in Flight A, with Fuchs and Vereau in Flight B.

Select matches will be streamed live through UCSB's PlaySight page. Those streams are expected to include Thayne's singles matches, along with his and Owen's doubles matches.

Friday's Initial Draw

Flight A Doubles:

• Thayne/Owen (BYU) versus Tripathi/Fradkin (UCLA)

Flight B Doubles:

• Fuchs/Vereau (BYU) versus Josserand/Gonzalez (SDSU)

Flight A Singles:

• Wally Thayne (BYU) versus Jeffrey Fradkin (UCLA)

Flight B Singles:

• Zach Fuchs (BYU) versus Eugenio Gonzalez (SDSU)
• Mateo Vereau (BYU) versus Callaway Clark (SMU)
• Redd Owen (BYU) versus Georgio Samaha (New Mexico)

The team’s social media channels will share results, along with further draws, match times and live streams as the tournament progresses.

The Cougars

Zach Fuchs

The Los Altos, Calif. native is returning to his home state for the competition. A junior, Fuchs will be making his first appearance for BYU since February 2022 after dealing with an injury last season. Prior to ending the year, Fuchs was 7-3 in singles play, including 3-1 in the spring dual match portion.

Redd Owen

The freshman from Sandy, Utah will continue his transition to the collegiate level in his second tournament of the season. Two weeks ago, Owen went 1-2 in singles at the ITA Bedford Cup in the Mountains.

Wally Thayne

Thayne will also be playing in his home state this weekend. Santa Barbara is less than an hour drive from his hometown of Newbury Park. At the 2021 edition of this competition, Thayne partnered with teammate Jack Barnett to finish second in the top doubles division. The junior also went 2-1 in singles, advancing to the second division’s semifinal.

Mateo Vereau

The fifth-year senior from Trujillo, Peru is one of three international players on BYU’s nine-man roster. Vereau also competed at the UCSB Classic in 2021, going 2-1 in singles to make it to the semifinal of the second division. He also played in doubles with teammate Dominik Jakovljevic.

Fuchs/Vereau

The pair made one doubles appearances together last season, defeating Grand Canyon's Martim Marujo and Aiden Coulome 6-3 on Jan. 27, 2022. Fuchs is 5-3 in doubles at BYU, while Vereau has played in 86 career doubles matches, holding a 41-31 record (14 unf.).

Thayne/Owen

Thayne and Owen will be playing together for the first time. Owen was 1-2 in his first doubles appearances with Brian Chen at the Bedford Cup, while Thayne's 30 doubles appearances in 2021-22 led the team. Thayne went 15-12 (3 unf.) in his first year at BYU, finishing the season ranked No. 10 in doubles for the ITA Mountain Region with teammate Tennyson Whiting.

The Competition

In addition to BYU and UCSB, Cal Poly, LMU, New Mexico, Saint Mary's, San Diego State, SMU, UCLA and Westmont will also be competing. Four of the 10 teams finished the 2021-22 season ranked nationally (SMU No. 28, UCLA No. 47, UCSB No. 56 and Cal Poly No. 63).