LOS ANGELES (Jan. 5, 2017) – Not to be outdone by the five current University of Virginia in action on Thursday at the Southern California Pro Futures Tournament, the UCLA men’s tennis program saw five current or former players brave the cold and damp conditions at the USTA $25,000  Pro Circuit event taking place on the campus of USC.

Only one Bruin was fortunate enough, however, to move on to the quarterfinals on Friday as Mackenzie McDonald battled his way back to beat his former UCLA teammate and doubles partner Marcos Giron, 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-2.

USC will be represented by three former players in the final eight as No. 2 Roberto Quiroz, No. 3 Emilio Gomez and No. 4 Yannick Hanfmann are all former Trojans and felt right at home on the Marks Tennis Stadium courts.

Both McDonald and Giron are both Californians who have had some distinct similarities in their young careers. To just name a few: both won prestigious junior Easter Bowl titles, they both won Ojai Men’s Open titles as juniors, both played No. 1 for UCLA, and they both won NCAA singles titles as UCLA juniors. And they both left college a year early, deciding to turn pro after reaching the pinnacle of college tennis.

Two University of Virginia players advanced to the quarterfinals as qualifier and junior Collin Altamirano and freshman Carl Soderlund each won close matches. Soderlund, the No. 8 seed, was impressive against his new teammate Thai-Son Kwiatkowski, a Cavalier senior, winning 7-5, 7-5. Altamirano and Soderlund will face each other in the quarterfinals on Friday.

In the men’s doubles final on Friday it will be the top-seeded British team of Luke Bambridge and Joe Salisbury taking on the former Trojans Hanfmann of Germany and Quiroz of Ecuador.

Thursday’s Second-Round Singles Scores

Collin Altamirano, U. S., (q) def. Karue Sell, Brazil (q), 7-6 (5), 7-5

Evan King, U. S., def. J. C. Aragone, U. S. (wc), 6-3, 2-6, 7-5

Roberto Quiroz, Ecuador (2) def. Henrik Wiersholm, U. S. (q), 6-2, 6-4

Yannick Hanfmann, Germany (4) def. Gage Brymer, U. S. (q), 6-2, 6-0

Carl Soderlund, Sweden (8), def. Thai-Son Kwiatkowski, U. S., 7-5, 7-5

Emilio Gomez, Ecuador (3) def. Clay Thompson, U. S., 7-5, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5)

Sebastian Fanselow, Germany, def. Dennis Nevolo, U. S., 6-2, 6-2

Mackenzie McDonald, U. S. (5), def. Marcos Giron, U. S., 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-2

Thursday’s Semifinal Doubles Scores

Luke Bambridge, Great Britain / Joe Salisbury, Great Britain (1), def. Markos Kalovelonis, Russia / Timur Khabibulin, Kazakhstan, 2-6, 6-1, 10-4

Yannick Hanfmann, Germany / Roberto Quiroz, Ecuador, def. Marcos Giron, U. S. / Clay Thompson, U. S., 6-1, 6-2

Community Events for the USC Tournament include:

Friday, Jan. 6: NJTL Community Reception; 3 p. m., includes doubles final.

Saturday, Jan. 7: Youth Tennis Play Day; 10 a. m.-11 a. m., includes pizza and prizes.

Sunday, Jan. 8: USPTA Clinic – Preventing Injuries Presented by USC Coach Peter Smith; 10 a. m.-11 a. m.