The Arizona men’s tennis team anticipated the battle against San Diego State would be a long and close one. The assumption they made was correct.

Yesterday, the Wildcats prevailed over the Aztecs 5-2, the mirror image of last year’s matchup.

The doubles point was the first, and possibly the most crucial of the day. Courts one and three split victories, turning all of the attention to Bruno Alcala and Ravid Hazi on court No. 2.

The Arizona pair was neck-and-neck with their opponent as they tied at eight, forcing the match into a tiebreaker for the last set. Alcala and Hazi pushed through to win by a score of 9-8 (8-6).

“”There was a lot of pressure, but we stepped up,”” Hazi said. “”That was a really important point for us as a team. It was great because we earned confidence after the (doubles) point, and that was a great feeling.””

With the boost of a 1-0 lead, the Wildcats clawed their way into singles play.

Jay Goldman stole a point for his team as he made a tremendous comeback from losing his first set, 6-3. He didn’t allow his opponent to breathe once he stepped back on the No. 2 court, beating him 6-0 and 6-1 in the second and third sets.

The match-clinching point was played on the No. 3 court, when Andres Carrasco beat his opponent in a third-set tiebreaker, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-1).

“”The guys are a bunch of fighters,”” said Arizona head coach Tad Berkowitz. “”They compete until the very end. They believe in each other on courts one through six, which makes it a lot easier for them to focus on their court when they know their teammate next to them is winning.””

The grueling match took four and a half hours from start to finish, about 90 minutes over the average length of a collegiate tennis match.

“”The long and tough day shows that the guys are in great shape and are conditioned well. I was really proud of them,”” Berkowitz said.

Hazi added: “”With an 8-1 record, we’re looked at as a pretty tough team now.””