The Arizona men’s tennis team begins its season at the Costa Mesa Futures tournament in Costa Mesa, Calif., today through Sunday.

UA head coach Tad Berkowitz said he is sending juniors Francois VanderMerwe, Claudio Christen and Bruno Alcala to represent the Wildcats.

Berkowitz, in his second year at the helm of Arizona, said there is no particular formula when selecting players to go to the tournaments. Since there are a number of different matches held in the fall, he wants to make sure his entire squad gets plenty of playing time throughout the year.

Christen began the 2006 spring season 6-0 and finished the season with a 22-11 record overall. He led Arizona at the No. 1 position in doubles with ’06 senior Jeff Groslimond.

VanderMerwe partnered with ’06 senior Roger Matalonga in doubles matches last season and helped lead an upset of USC’s then-No. 53 Kaes Van’t Hof and Jeff Kazarian.

Alcala, a native of Barcelona, Spain, finished with a record of 15-20, 4-5 in the Pacific 10 Conference last season.

Last season, the Wildcats finished 12-10 overall and 3-4 in the Pac-10, and they lost in the NCAA first round to then-No. 23 Colorado. The team also lost Matalonga, a two-time All-American and former team captain, who Berkowitz called “”irreplaceable.””

However, a more confident Berkowitz is ready to see what the team can accomplish this season. Although it is a young team without any seniors, he said that he is excited to see who will take on the leadership role that was left empty by Matalonga.