STOCKTON, Calif. – University of Portland men's tennis concluded action this weekend at the ITA Northwest Regional Championships at the Eve Zimmerman Tennis Center. Portland played a lot of tennis with highlights including a quarterfinals run in doubles by Nikola Keremedchiev and Cade Fernando, while Keremedchiev also reached the Round of 16 in singles.

The tandem of Keremedchiev and Fernando defeated a team from Gonzaga and advanced via walkover to the quarterfinals before dropping a close 8-6 decision to a team from Cal. Keremedchiev recorded an impressive three-set win against Nico Rating from host Pacific before dropping a 6-3, 6-4 decision to Cal's Fryderyk Lechno Wasiutynski, the tournament's No. 6 seed, in the singles main draw. Freshman Gian Manhas advanced out of the Singles Qualifying Draw with a pair of wins on Friday, while Tannor Binder and Lucas Kimelman each earned three singles wins over the weekend.

The Pilots collectively finished 5-5 overall in doubles and 12-13 in singles matches at the event.
 
"We are focused now on creating this new team's culture in the current college tennis landscape and also with our personnel," Portland head coach Aaron Gross said. "College tennis is probably at an all-time high in terms of playing level. I don't think there will be one match this Spring that we can walk on the court and put in the win column before it happens. I have always tried to define toughness in tennis as how do you do in three-set matches, how do you respond after losing the first set, and how do you do in later days of tournaments at the end of long stretches of matches. The last two days of this tournament Fernando, Binder, Kimelman, and Garcia all had the best wins on paper that they have had in the last six months, several in three sets. Manhas also really showed some grit this weekend against high-level competition.
 
"Our conference is tougher than ever and there are some things that we cannot control, but effort and grit are things that we need to bring every day by everybody for us to see tangible results against the top teams. There were definitely moments of that this weekend that I hope the guys can feel proud about. As coaches, we know we have a lot of stuff to work on, but if we can count on that competitiveness without question when we go out, I think we could have some fun and rewarding opportunities that we capitalize on this Spring."

Portland will be back in action at the Gonzaga Invitational on Nov. 7-9 in Spokane, Wash.

ITA Northwest Regional Championships
Stockton, Calif. (Eve Zimmerman Tennis Center)
October 16-21, 2025

Singles Main Draw
64 (9) Nikola Keremedchiev (POR) def. Sam Olszakowski (UO) 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (2)
64 (8) Soham Purohit (WASH) def. Tom Garcia (POR) 7-6 (3), 4-6, 3-0, retired
64 Christof Schaertlin Coffey (PAC) def. Lucas Kimelman (POR) 6-3, 7-6 (3)
64 Nadual Cheam (UCD) def. Stefan Skobelev (POR) 6-4, 6-1
64 Nicholas Reeves (GON) def. Cade Fernando (POR) 6-2, 6-4
64 William Semler (UO) def. Gian Manhas (POR) 6-1, 7-5
32 Keremedchiev (POR) def. Nico Rating (PAC) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
16 (6) Fryderyk Lechno Wasiutynski (CAL) def. Keremedchiev (POR) 6-3, 6-4

Singles Qualifying Draw
64 Hampus Hagglund (PSU) def. Lucca Lafrance (POR) 0-6, 6-3, 6-4
64 Gian Manhas (POR) def. Yuan Lu (PSU) 6-4, 6-2
64 Niv Zuckerman (PAC) def. Eli Noel (POR) 6-3, 6-1
32 (5) Lucas Kimelman (POR) def. Mahir Khurana (SCU) 6-1, 6-3
32 (6) Cade Fernando (POR) def. Vidyuth Anand (UCD) 6-0, 6-4
32 Manhas (POR) def. (4) Doni Gashi (SAC) 6-4, 6-1
32 Nadaul Cheam (UCD) def. (9) Tannor Binder (POR) 6-4, 7-5
C Luke Tushher (STAN) def. Lafrance (POR) 6-4, 6-7 (3), 10-7
C Daniel Bien (WASH) def. Noel (POR) 6-2, 6-4
C Binder (POR) def. Sebastian Vlahos (SAC) 6-2, 6-0
C Binder (POR) def. Nikola Plavsic (WASH) 8-2
C Binder (POR) def. Dan Hughes (UO) 6-2, 3-6, 10-7
C Manhas (POR) def. Adryan Ballestero (SAC) 3-6, 7-5, 10-5
C Kimelman (POR) def. Gashi (SAC) 6-2, 6-3
C Kimelman (POR) def. Jonty Giesen (PAC) 6-2, 6-1
C Fernando (POR) def. Giesen (PAC) 6-2, 7-6 (4)
C Garcia (POR) def. Valentin Faure (SCU) 6-4, 2-6, 10-5
C Bien (WASH) def. Lafrance (POR) 6-2, 6-1
C Sebastian Vlahos (SAC) def. Noel (POR) 6-2, 6-4
C Miles Whitehead (SAC) def. Noel (POR) 6-3, 6-1
C Lukas Maskow (SCU) def. Garcia (POR) 3-6, 6-4, 10-3
C Faure (SCU) def. Skobelev (POR) 7-6 (3), 6-4
C Rating (PAC) def. Skobelev (POR) 5-7, 6-1, 10-1
C Justin Powell (SAC) def. Manhas (POR) 6-1, 6-2
C Russell Soohoo (UO) def. Fernando (POR) 6-4, 6-4

Doubles Main Draw
64 Declan Galligan/Dan Hughes (UO) def. Noel/Manhas (POR) 8-4
64 (9) Valentin Faure/Luca Lemaitre Vilchis (SCU) def. Kimelman/Binder (POR) 8-3
32 (9) Keremedchiev/Fernando (POR) def. Reeves/James Hutchinson (GON) 8-5
32 (9) Skobelev/Garcia (POR) def. Perry Di Giulio/Rithvik Katpelly (UCD) 8-7 (3)
16 (9) Keremedchiev/Fernando (POR) def. (8) Matthew Burton/Olszakowski (UO) WO (inj.)
16 (3) Alex Chang/Alexander Razeghi (STAN) def. (9) Skobelev/Garcia (POR) 8-6
QF Bernardo Munk Mesa/Paris Pouatcha (CAL) def. (9) Keremedchiev/Fernando (POR) 8-6
C Manhas/Noel (POR) def. Justin Powell/Vlahos (SAC) 6-3
C Rating/Schaertlin Coffey (PAC) def. Skobelev/Garcia (POR) 6-2
C Binder/Kimelman (POR) def. Doni Gashi/Freddie Healey (SAC) 6-2
  Get Your Tickets Now!
Secure your spot now for any upcoming Portland Pilots ticketed home event by visiting PortlandPilots.com/Tickets or by downloading the Portland Pilots App.  For group and fan experience package information, email pilotsboxoffice@up.edu.

Donate Today 
Fans interested in making a contribution to University of Portland Athletics can do so by clicking here. Your gift helps our over 300 student-athletes compete at the highest level – on and off the field - in the rapidly changing world of intercollegiate athletics. All gifts to Pilot Athletics are 100% tax deductible.

Follow Along With the Action
Get the latest news and information about your favorite University of Portland athletic programs by visiting PortlandPilots.com. You can also follow along for the most dynamic coverage and team-centric content by following us on Twitter, liking us on Facebook, and following us on Instagram.