SAN DIEGO – Four Aztecs competed in the opening day of the men’s tennis USTA SoCal Intercollegiate Championships on Thursday, with three advancing to Friday’s main draw. Mathieu Josserand, Eugenio Gonzalez Fitzmaurice and Paul Janson all earned their spots with first-day victories.
Doubles
In the doubles qualifying round, Gonzalez Fitzmaurice and Janson faced off against Baylor’s Luis Jose Nakamine and Imran Daniel Abdul Hazli, picking up a 6-3 win.
Josserand and Louis Chusseau paired up for the qualifier against Baylor’s Quintan Van Wijk and Arman Zamani. The Aztecs battled, but fell just short 7-6 (7-4).
Singles
After winning his qualifying singles match 6-2, 4-6, 10-7 against Roman Venger of Utah State, Josserand recorded another victory in the round of 32, defeating San Diego’s Nikhil Niranjan 7-6 (7-1), 6-3.
Janson also made it past the initial round, taking down Kennesaw State’s Sam Baldwin in a 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 win. However, the freshman was bested 6-4, 6-2 in the round of 32 by Neo Niedner of San Diego.
Gonzalez Fitzmaurice punched his ticket to the round of 16 with a hard-fought 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 win over Finbar McGarvey of Grand Canyon.
Next Up
Friday’s competition will open with the doubles round of 16 at 10 am., featuring Gonzalez Fitzmaurice and Janson, who will take on Grand Canyon’s Brice Patoux and David Wekesa. Doubles play will be followed by the singles round of 16 where Josserand and Gonzalez Fitzmaurice will look to advance to the quarterfinals.