Senior Claudio Christen continued to impress his coach by advancing to the third round of the Polo Ralph Lauren All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla.

Christen defeated Tyler Hochwalt of Florida 6-1, 7-6 (4) yesterday morning in what UA head coach Tad Berkowtiz said was the best he’s looked in a long time.

Christen’s performance against one of the nation’s top blue-chip freshmen provides good momentum into today’s 9 a.m. match against USC’s Gary Sacks, Berkowtiz added.

“”Claudio has a good opportunity,”” Berkowitz said. “”He’s going to have to step up and play well (today).””

Sacks won in match play against Arizona last spring in Los Angeles. Today’s neutral court could turn the tables, Berkowitz said.

First-round doubles qualifying began yesterday with a split for both pairs. Christen and Jay Goldman defeated Mississippi’s Jakob Klaeson and Kalle Norberg 8-5 before falling 8-5 to Texas’ Luis Diaz Barriga and Ed Corrie in the second round.

“”They lost, but I think our guys can play a little bit better and hang with a good team like Texas,”” Berkowitz said. “”After the match, I think they realized they could beat a team like that.””

Arizona’s Peter Zimmer and Bruno Alcala defeated DePaul’s Austin Doerner and Jose Moncada 8-3 before falling to Jack Baker and Marek Sramek of South Alabama 9-8 (1).

Although Zimmer and Alcala had a few chances to clinch the second-round win, it was a nice accomplishment for them to progress that far, Berkowitz said.