UW roommates have mixed results at Pacific Northwest Open
A trio of University of Washington roommates competed at the same time Thursday at the Pacific Northwest Open tennis tournament at the Tacoma Lawn Tennis Club.
UW sophomore tennis player Mitch Stewart, the No. 4 seed, beat Fredrik Ask, 6-1, 6-0. Former UW player Max Manthou, the No. 8 seed, beat Stratton Gilmore, 6-1, 6-3. But sixth-seeded Jake Douglas, also a sophomore for the Huskies, lost his match against unseeded Nicholas Kamisar, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
Douglas was visibly upset but was lifted emotionally by his roommates as he walked off the court. Manthou told Douglas he was going to order him a sandwich, and Stewart, who described Douglas as his best friend, patted him on the back and gave him a short pep talk.
“What’s funny is that those two actually have a joint nickname,” said Manthou, a Kentwood High grad. “It’s ‘The Collaboration.’”
Douglas said a UW coach made up the nickname.
“Jake grew up in California, so I actually didn’t know him going into our freshman year,” said Stewart, a Federal Way High School graduate. “But we automatically clicked and have become best friends.”
The 23-year-old Manthou, who finished his college eligibility last year and recently graduated, said living with Stewart and Douglas has taken him back to his youth.
“We’ve all definitely did some freshman things together,” Manthou said with a laugh.
Stewart and Douglas each have three years of eligibility remaining at UW.
Kamisar, a 23-year-old Sammamish native, yelled in exuberance and threw down his hat after beating Douglas.
“I just went out there and competed as hard as I could,” Kamisar said.
Kamisar recently played in a futures tennis tournament in Vancouver, Washington, and said that helped him prepare for the Open.
He will face the No. 1 seed, Robert Kendrick, a 35-year-old who began his college career at UW before transferring to Pepperdine.
“I’m just happy to get this far,” Kamisar said. “I’m just going to go out there and play my game and have fun. It will be a great experience for me.”
Kamisar also began at UW, playing two seasons before transferring to Gonzaga. He graduated last year.
Kendrick beat Devin Nerenberg, 6-0, 6-0. The women’s No. 1 seed, Petra Rampre, beat Arianna Fardanesh, 6-0, 6-0.
The men’s and women’s No. 2 seeds also advanced. UW graduate Kyle McMorrow beat Hunter Egger, 6-1, 6-0, and Gail Brodsky defeated Arisha Ladhani, 6-2, 6-0.
This story was originally published July 23, 2015 at 9:43 PM with the headline "UW roommates have mixed results at Pacific Northwest Open."