Oct. 11, 2003

FRESNO, Calif. - The UNLV men's tennis team kicked off its fall tournament schedule by winning six matches during the first two round of the 2003 Bulldog Classic on the campus of Fresno State Friday.

Competing in the Flight A bracket for the Rebels were Henner Nehles and Aviram Salomon, who both won their opening match before being eliminiated in the second round. Nehles, the fifth seed in the bracket, posted a 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 win over Washington's Daniel Chu, but fell in straight sets to Gurnot Fischer of St. Mary's 6-4, 6-0. Salomon also dropped the opening set of his first match before rallying for a 5-7, 6-3, 6-0 win over Sven Swinnen of Oregon. In his next match, Salomon lost to Alberton Francis of UCLA 6-2, 6-3.

Romain Massaro is the lone Rebel alive in the singles brackets, winning both of his matches in Flight B. Massaro posted a 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 win over California's John Pettit, and followed with an easy 6-0, 6-2 victory over Brian Wright of Southern Cal. Massaro will meet Adam Favrelo of St. Mary's in the quarterfinals on Saturday at 8 a.m.

In the doubles bracket, the fourth-seeded team of Nehles and Salomon posted an 8-3 win over Chris King and Vladimir Pino of Oregon to advance to the second round, while Massaro and Marko Blagojevic fell to Krzysztdf Kwinta and Alberto Francas of UCLA 8-2.

The tournament concludes Sunday.