Juniors Bruno Alcala and Claudio Christen of the Arizona men’s tennis team reached the quarterfinals of the doubles draw before falling in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association West Regionals.
Four of the duo’s other teammates also competed in the Pepperdine-hosted event, but because the team did not reach the finals in either the singles or doubles events, it will not compete at the ITA National Indoors Championships in November, meaning this tournament marks the conclusion of the team’s fall season.
“”I think we had some mixed results,”” UA head coach Tad Berkowitz said. “”We had some guys that I felt played really well, and some guys I felt…could’ve done a little bit better.””
In the doubles event, Alcala and Christen, who shared the No. 3 seed, won their first match on Friday against Levon Brown and Matt Ozurovich of San Diego, 8-3, before getting a break from the action due to a withdrawal from UC-Irvine’s Shimpei Suzuki and Zach Tsai in the round of 16.
The duo experienced Arizona’s first loss of the event in the quarterfinals against the No. 2 seed of the draw from UCLA, Ben Kohlloeffel – who is the No. 1-ranked singles player in the country – and Chris Surapol, 8-4.
Berkowitz said that although the UCLA duo usually doesn’t play together, it’s still “”one of the best teams in the country.””
In terms of his doubles team, Berkowitz said he was pleased with their performances.
“”Bruno – I felt – played his best doubles that he’s played in his three years,”” Berkowitz said.
The Wildcats struggled often in the singles draw as Alcala, junior Francois VanderMerwe, and freshman Alex Labrosse did not advance past the first round on Thursday.
Christen, who had the No. 9 seed in the event, lost to Suzuki 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the round of 32 on Friday, while sophomore Peter Zimmer fell to No. 2 Surapol, 6-2, 6-1.
Now, with his team’s fall season completed, Berkowitz will look to see development heading into the spring.
“”(We need to) stay focused and concentrate throughout an entire match,”” Berkowitz said, “”and, most importantly, believe in ourselves that we can beat good teams.””