Both Arizona men’s and women’s tennis teams had a successful opening to their weekend matches on Friday in Tucson.
The Wildcat women’s tennis team started their 2018 season off in dominant fashion, beating down in-state rival Northern Arizona 7-0, and then finishing off the day by beating Boise State 4-0 to round out the day.
The Wildcat men’s team put on a strong performance as well, seeing off the University of San Francisco by a final score of 6-1, the only loss coming in the doubles portion.
For the UA women’s team, junior Camila Westbrooks and her doubles partner, senior Devin Chypyha, set the tone for the entire team early with two different types of performances.
Westbrooks was relentless against her first opponent, beating NAU’s Brandy Walker by a match off with a score of 6-1. While Chypyha dropped her first set to NAU’s Hanneke Lodewijks 5-7, she stormed back to win the match in the second and third sets by scores of 6-3 and 7-5 to start the season out with a gutty, veteran performance.
The experienced duo combined their earlier singles performances against NAU’s and grinded out a doubles win that went into a tiebreaker against Boise State’s Anja Nokic and Wiktoria Nosek. The Boise State pairing answered almost everything the Arizona duo threw out them, but Westbrooks and Chypyha ultimately come out on top .
On the Arizona men’s side, the going was slightly easier for the energetic and electric Wildcats as each match ended after two sets, with every Wildcat putting their opponent away in efficient fashion.
New incoming transfer and team captain, Jonas Maier, had the most exciting match of the day for the men as he put away a tough competitor in USF’s Mert Zincirli to the score of 7-5 and 6-4 to finish off the singles portion for the men.
UA freshman Carlos Hassey showed early-season maturity to win his first set against USF’s Ryan Marker 7-5 and then stormed back from an 0-2 deficit in the second set, which tied the set at 5. Hassesy then put himself ahead for good with a cerebral volley from up close that not only put the nail in the coffin of his opponent, but got the entire Wildcat men’s team off of their feet and all but sealed the team victory.
The women’s team looks to extend their early season dominance against Utah State on Sunday, Jan. 28 at the LaNelle Robson Tennis Center at 11:00 a.m. While the men’s team faces Saint Mary’s College from California following the women’s match at 1:30 p.m.
Follow David Skinner on Twitter