April 15, 2018
FRESNO, Calif. – San Diego State wrapped up its regular-season schedule on a sour note Sunday, falling to Fresno State 4-1 in a Mountain West dual match at Spalding G. Wathen Tennis Center.
The Aztecs (5-19, 3-4 MW) dropped a closely contested doubles point before ceding three of four completed singles matches, as the Bulldogs (16-11, 5-1 MW) remain unbeaten at home in 11 outings this spring.
After the tandem of David Hough and Arnaud Restifo suffered a 6-2 setback to the duo of Youssef Hassan and Mantas Bugailiskis in the No. 3 position, the pairing of Sander Gjoels-Andersen and Rafael Gonzalez Almazan responded with a 6-4 triumph over Zdenek Derkas and Cem Erturk in the No. 1 slot.
The attention quickly shifted to the No. 2 court where the combo of Raul de la Torre and Jan Kirchhoff found themselves in a tight match with Cagatay Soke and Xavier Veys, before coming out on the wrong side of a 7-6(5) decision.
Haunted perhaps by its narrow miss, the Scarlet and Black was unable to generate momentum in singles play, falling behind 3-0 after Restifo was dismissed by Derkas in the No. 2 position, 6-3, 6-0, while de la Torre experienced a similar fate in a 6-2, 6-0 defeat to Jeremy Moser at No. 6.
SDSU broke through with its first point of the day moments later when Gonzalez Almazan emerged triumphant over Henrique Osorio by a 6-3, 6-1 tally in the fifth spot.
However, Fresno State promptly extinguished the Aztecs' comeback hopes after Erturk prevailed over Gjoels-Andersen, 6-3, 6-4, at No. 3.
Two matches remained unfinished when the requisite fourth point was recorded. Ignacio Martinez trailed Veys 6-5 in the second set on court No. 1 after his Bulldog adversary captured the first by a 6-4 count. Meanwhile, Kirchhoff found himself on the wrong side of 3-0 score in the third set of his encounter with Soke in the fourth position after splitting the first two, 4-6, 6-1.
QUOTABLE
"It was a close battle today with the doubles point coming down to a tiebreaker to decide it," said Aztec head coach Gene Carswell. "Ignacio (Martinez) fought well at the top of our lineup today. Rafael (Gonzalez Almazan) and Jan (Kirchhoff) also gave us great chance to stay in this match. We know what we need to work on, and we'll have some great practice between now and when we host the conference championship on our home courts."
UP NEXT
San Diego State will enjoy a bye-week before playing host to the MW Men's Tennis Championship, April 26-28, at Aztec Tennis Center.
Fresno State 4, San Diego State 1
April 15, 2018
Fresno, Calif.
Spalding G. Wathen Tennis Center
Doubles
1. Sander Gjoels-Andersen/Rafael Gonzalez Almazan (SDSU) def. Zdenek Derkas/Cem Erturk (FS), 6-4
2. Cagatay Soke/Xavier Veys (FS) def. Raul de la Torre/Jan Kirchhoff (SDSU), 7-6(5)
3. Youssef Hassan/ Mantas Bugailiskis (FS) def. David Hough/Arnaud Restifo (SDSU), 6-2
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2
Fresno State wins doubles point
Singles
1. Xavier Veys (FS) vs. Ignacio Martinez (SDSU), 6-4, 6-5 DNF
2. Zdenek Derkas (FS) def. Arnaud Restifo (SDSU), 6-3, 6-0
3. Cem Erturk (FS) def. Sander Gjoels-Andersen (SDSU), 6-3, 6-4
4. Cagatay Soke (FS) vs. Jan Kirchhoff (SDSU), 6-4, 1-6, 3-0 DNF
5. Rafael Gonzalez Almazan (SDSU) def. Henrique Osorio (FS), 6-3, 6-1
6. Jeremy Moser (FS) def. Raul de la Torre (SDSU), 6-2, 6-0
Order of finish: 2, 6, 5, 3*
* Match-clinching victory