Canales, Sargeant cruise into quarterfinals

LOS ANGELES--Junior Francis Sargeant and freshman Juan Canales both cruised into the quarterfinals as BYU men's tennis wrapped up its second day at the 57th Annual Southern California Intercollegiate Championships, Thursday.

 

"Juan Canales turned a lucky-loser opportunity into a quarterfinal appearance in one of the most prestigious college tournaments in the country," BYU head coach Brad Pearce said. "Sargeant has lived up to his seeding and has a great opportunity tomorrow as well."

 

Canales seized his opportunity in the main draw by beating UC Irvine's Justin Agbayani. After falling in the first set, 3-6, the freshman stole the momentum to win the second and third sets, 6-4, 6-1. Canales followed his comeback victory with a win over Max Jiganti of UC San Diego, 6-4, 6-3, to secure a spot in the quarterfinals.

 

Sargeant was the other Cougar to clinch a berth in the quarterfinals. The sophomore defeated UCLA's Seth Stolar, 6-3, 6-4. He then topped Azusa Pacific's Jan Meyer, 6-1, 6-1.

 

In doubles qualifying play, Canales and fellow freshman Jeremy Bourgeois dominated Brandon Wee and Nishanth Yamani of UCLA, 8-0. Sterling Galli and Nikki Rae pulled out the win over Stolar and Michael Guzman also of UCLA, 8-6. BYU will have all three of their doubles teams playing in the main draw tomorrow. 

 

Tournament action resumes with singles Friday at 10:30 a.m. and doubles at 1:30 p.m. PDT. 

 

Tournament action can be followed on the USTA website or on Twitter @LATennisCenter.