PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland men's tennis team won their 2026 home opener with a 7-0 sweep of Portland State Saturday at the Louisiana-Pacific Tennis Center. The Pilots improve to 2-1, while the Vikings drop to 0-3.

Portland secured a competitive doubles point with wins at No. 3 and No. 1, respectively. Lucas Kimelman and Tannor Binder were 6-4 winners over Luca  Prino and Yuan Lu at No. 3 and then Nikola Keremedchiev and Cade Fernando clinched the point with a 6-3 win against Edoardo Cravanzola and Maas Schotanus. Stefan Skobelev and Tom Garcia were leading 6-5 when the No. 2 doubles match was abandoned.

The Pilots turned it up in singles play and won all six matches in straight sets. Fernando doubled Portland's lead with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Ignacio Ruiz Marquinez at No. 3 and Keremedchiev quickly followed with a 6-2, 6-3 victory at No. 1 over Aarjun Pandit. Garcia provided the match clincher with a 6-3, 6-4 win against Prino at No. 2.

Binder made quick work of Lu 6-3, 6-0 at No. 5, Skobelev took out Cravanzola 6-2, 7-6 at No. 4 and then freshman Gian Manhas earned his first dual match singles win with a 7-6, 6-1 decision versus Hampus Hagglund.

"I think PSU has one of their better teams in recent history," Portland head coach Aaron Gross said. "They are dangerous and we had a very close doubles point. I think they are going do some damage in the Big Sky, but we were really strong in singles all the way through.

"We had a lot of alumni out today and it made me especially proud to see our local guys, Cade Fernando and Tannor Binder come through. They both went through a year or two of their career here slowly and steadily getting better until they were able to contribute, and now they are stepping up big time. I feel like the strength of our program has always been development and the way college sports are now and so much turnover, it is just super important that you are getting quality kids and people that want to work and develop and be in that foxhole with their coaches and teammates getting better every day. It was also really cool to see Gian get his first dual match win. Our freshmen are working hard and I think are going to be ready to step up for us when they need to in the future."

Portland will next be in action with two matches hosted by Hawaii. The Pilots will take on BYU on Thursday, Jan. 29 at 2 p.m. (PT) at the UH Tennis Complex before playing the host Rainbow Warriors on Saturday, Jan. 31 at 6 p.m.

Portland 7, Portland State 0
Portland, Ore. (Louisiana-Pacific Tennis Center)
January 24, 2026

Singles
1. Nikola Keremedchiev (POR) def. Aarjun Pandit (PSU) 6-2, 6-3
2. Tom Garcia (POR) def. Luca Prino (PSU) 6-3, 6-4
3. Cade Fernando (POR) def. Ignacio Ruiz Marquinez (PSU) 6-2, 6-4
4. Stefan Skobelev (POR) def. Edoardo Cravanzola (PSU) 6-2, 7-6 (8)
5. Tannor Binder (POR) def. Yuan Lu (PSU) 6-3, 6-0
6. Gian Manhas (POR) def. Hampus Hagglund (PSU) 7-6 (4), 6-1

Doubles
1. Keremedchiev/Fernando (POR) def. Cravanzola/Maas Schotanus (PSU) 6-3
2. Skobelev/Garcia (POR) vs. Pandit/Ruiz Marquinez (PSU) 6-5 unfinished
3. Lucas Kimelman/Tannor Binder (POR) def. Prino/Lu (PSU) 6-4

Team Notes
Portland 2-1
Portland State 0-3
Order of Finish: Singles (3,1,2,5,4,6); Doubles (3,1) Get Your Tickets Now!
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