Defending their CCCAA Team Dual State Championship, the #1-seeded Cerritos College men's tennis team opened with a 5-2 win over #8-seeded Saddleback College on Tuesday. It was the second meeting this season between the two teams, with Cerritos posting a 5-0 win in their first encounter. The Falcons (16-2) have now advanced to the 2nd Round of the team dual playoffs, which will take place on the Cerritos College Tennis Courts next Tuesday.

With the match opening with doubles, the Falcons scored a quick pair of team points with 8-1 wins by their top two doubles teams. Freshman Arthur Toledo (Goliath Academy, FL) and sophomore Bruno Duarte (Centro Educacional Rogêdo, Brazil), who reached the finals of the South Coast Conference Tournament, posted the first team point of the day, while conference tournament champions, sophomore Jan Simon (Gymnasium Auf Der Karthause, Germany, Cypress College) and freshman Lucas Legrand (Marie, France) finished just a few minutes later.

The final doubles match went to a tiebreaker, as the duo of sophomores Tomas Bella (Colegio Mallinckrodt, Argentina/Cypress College) and Nico De La Pena (Downey HS) were unable to hold on to a pair of leads. Trailing 3-2 in the match, the Falcon duo posted three straight wins to take a 5-3 advantage. However, the Gaucho pair of Shayan Haddas Kaveh and Lucas Fortt fought back to win the next three games for a 6-5 lead. After the teams were tied, 8-8, they moved to a tiebreaker, where Bella and De La Pena recorded the first five points, with the winner being the first to reach 10 points. It was then a 6-6 tie until Saddleback recorded four of the last six points to pick up the team point.

But the Falcons took over once singles action got underway, as Toledo earned a 6-0, 6-2 win in the #1 position over Haddad Kaveh, with Legrand and Bella also recording straight set wins to clinch the team victory.

SINGLES
Arthur Toledo (CERR) def. Shayan Haddad Kaveh (SADD), 6-0, 6-2
Bruno Duarte (CERR) led Tyler Edwards (SADD), 6-4, 2-0 (did not finish)
Jan Simon (CERR) led Lucas Fortt (SADD), 6-4, 5-3 (did not finish)
Lucas Legrand (CERR) def. Chris Torcaso (SADD), 6-4, 6-2
Tomas Bella (CERR) def. Ivan Ozerets (SADD), 6-4, 6-0
Oliver Ludwig (SADD) def. Nico De La Pena (CERR), 6-3, 6-0

DOUBLES
Arthur Toledo/Bruno Duarte (CERR) def. Tyler Edwards/Chris Torcaso (SADD), 8-1
Jan Simon/Lucas Legrand (CERR) def. Oliver Ludwig/Ryan Burns (SADD), 8-1
Shayan Haddad Kaveh/Lucas Fortt (SADD) def. Tomas Bella/Nico De La Pena (CERR), 9-8 (10-8)