Arizona men’s tennis secures first wins in double header

Mary Grace Armistead

January 15, 2024

The Arizona men’s tennis team gets ready before a match against the University of San Diego on Feb. 4 at the Robson Tennis Center. The UA men’s tennis team, ranked No. 16 in the country, went on to lose the first two doubles matches by close scores.

The University of Arizona men’s tennis team dominated the University of California, San Diego in its first matches of the season at LaNelle Robson Tennis Center on Sunday Jan. 14, at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m.

To kick off the season, the Wildcats squared up against UC San Diego for the first time in the morning. Arizona started with a doubles win, securing the first point with victories from Colton Smith and Jay Friend at line one (6-3), and Gustaf Strom and Sasha Rozin at line three (6-3).

Moving on to singles, the Wildcats secured five wins. Smith at line one was the first to finish, beating his opponent (6-2, 6-1). Friend followed suit at line two, defeating his opponent (6-2, 6-0). Herman Hoeyeraal at line five secured the next win (6-2, 6-2). Casper Christensen won his match shortly after (6-3, 6-2). Strom at line four won (6-4, 6-1), and Nick Lagaev capped the match with a victory (6-4, 6-2). The final score of the first match was 7-0.

In the last matchup of the day, the Wildcats squared up against UC San Diego again in the afternoon. Arizona picked up the doubles point again, securing wins from all teams. Smith and Friend at line one won their match (6-3). Line two, Lagaev and Rozin, along with Strom and Inaki Cabrera-Bello at line three, both won their matches (6-2).

The Wildcats went on to play singles next, securing wins from five courts and suffering a lone loss. Friend at line one gave the Wildcats the first singles win with a score (6-2, 6-1).
Strom secured the next singles win at line two (6-2, 6-2). Lagaev at line five with a score (6-0, 6-1) and Cabrera-Bello at line five (6-1, 6-0) contributed to the victories. Christensen at line six also secured a singles win with a final score of (6-2, 6-2). Rozin at line four was the only loss of the afternoon with a score of (6-1, 7-5). The final score of the second match was 6-1.

Arizona men’s tennis is at home again for its next match at LaNelle Robson Tennis Center on Sunday, Jan. 21, against Baylor University at 1 p.m.

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