SEATTLE, Wash. – Portland had a solid debut in doubles Saturday afternoon at the ITA Northwest Regional Championships at the Nordstrom Tennis Center. The tandem of Stefan Skobelev and Nikola Keremedchiev won two matches to reach the quarterfinals, while the Pilots went 4-2 overall in doubles on the day.

Skobelev and Keremedchiev beat a team from Gonzaga 8-5 in the Round of 32 and then knocked off the No. 6 seed in the draw from Stanford, 8-5. The duo will face the No. 3 seed tandem of Carl Emil Overbeck and Theo Dean from California in Sunday's quarterfinals.

Portland newcomers Lucas Kimelman and Tom Garcia picked up a win against another seeded team with a tiebreaker victory against the Santa Clara team of Lukas Maskow and Luca Lemaitre Vilchis. They fell to the fourth-seeded team in the Round of 32.

Maxim Groysman and Cade Fernando defeated Oregon's Zian Vanderstappen and Matthew Greschner by an 8-4 margin before falling to Cal's Overbeck and Dean, 8-6.

In morning singles action, Groysman and Keremedchiev each fell in straight sets to players from Stanford and Washington, respectively, to exit in the Round of 32.

"We had a great afternoon of doubles," Portland head coach Aaron Gross said. "All three teams had nice first round wins and then Stefan and Nikola beat the number six seed from Stanford to advance to the quarterfinals putting themselves three matches away from making the NCAA Tournament. It is probably the farthest along I have felt our team is in doubles at this time of year in a while. We've been putting in some time and repetition into doubles more than we have at this point in years' past and it was very satisfying to see it pay off today.

"Max was just overmatched by a terrific Stanford player in singles and as good of a performance as Nikola had yesterday, he just couldn't find the rhythm or the confidence today."

With the NCAA Singles & Doubles Championships moving to the fall for the first time this season, all ITA Regional doubles champions will earn an automatic berth in the 64-team doubles field.

ITA Northwest Regional Championships
Seattle, Wash. (Nordstrom Tennis Center)
Oct. 16-19, 2024

Qualifying Singles
1 Edoardo Cravanzola (PSU) def. Tannor Binder (POR) 7-5, 6-2
1 Clement Lemire (UO) def. Lucas Kimelman (POR) 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
2 Cade Fernando (POR) def. Michael Frank (SEA) 6-2, 6-3

Main Draw Singles
64 Maxim Groysman (POR) def. Filip Stipic (SEA) 5-7, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (6)
64 Nikola Keremedchiev (POR) def. (9-16) Timofey Stepanov (CAL) 6-3, 7-6 (5)
64 Matthew Burton (UO) def. Tom Garcia (POR) 6-3, 6-1
64 Ran Amar (PAC) def. Fernando (POR) 4-6, 6-2, 6-2
64 (9-16) Tiago Silva (PAC) def. Stefan Skobelev (POR) 6-3, 3-6, 6-2
32 (5) Max Basing (STAN) def. Groysman (POR) 6-3, 6-1
32 Nedim Suko (WASH) def. Keremedchiev (POR) 6-2, 7-5

Main Draw Doubles
32 Kimelman/Garcia (POR) def. (9-16) Lukas Maskow/Luca Lemaitre Vilchis (SCU) 8-7 (6)
32 (9-16) Skobelev/Keremedchiev (POR) def. Kai-Luca Ampaw/Gus Krauel (GON) 8-5
32 (9-16) Groysman/Fernando (POR) def. Zian Vanderstappen/ Matthew Greschner (UO) 8-4
16 (9-16) Skobelev/Keremedchiev (POR) def. (6) Harsh Parikh/Kyle Kang (STAN) 8-5
16 (9-16) (3) Carl Emil Overbeck/Theo Dean (CAL) def. Groysman/Fernando (POR) 8-6
16 (4) Nicholas Godsick/Samir Banerjee (STAN) def. Kimelman/Garcia (POR) 8-2
QF (9-16) Skobelev/Keremedchiev (POR) vs. (3) Overbeck/Dean (CAL) Sunday
 
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