SAN DIEGO – San Diego State men’s tennis kicked off the opening day of the San Diego Spring Invitational at the Aztec Tennis Center on Friday. Coming off two straight home wins, the Aztecs faced Utah on their home courts, dropping the doubles point and winning two singles matches in a 4-2 defeat.
The Aztecs fall to 5-4 (0-1 Mountain West) and the Utes move to 9-4.
In doubles, Alexander Mandma and Mathieu Josserand played on the top court once again. Facing Reid Jarvis and Dante Teramo, the match was tied at four games each when the Utes captured the doubles point. On court two, Denis Maijorov and Liam Spiers came up short 6-4 to Berk Bugarikj and Max Relic while Eugenio Gonzalez Fitzmaurice and Paul Janson were bested 6-2 by Emmett Potter and Nicolas Calixto on court three.
In singles, the Utes quickly extended their advantage to 2-0. Philipp Bosse took the top spot for the Aztecs for the fifth time this season, falling 6-1, 6-1 to Bugarikj.
Mandma put San Diego State on the board with a win on court four. The senior took down Relic in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3, to advance to 2-0 on the season in the No. 4 spot.
Utah’s Charles Frey responded, taking court six to make the score 3-1 in Utah’s favor. Maijorov battled Frey on the bottom court, but couldn’t push past the Ute and fell 7-5, 6-4.
Gonzalez Fitzmaurice kept the Aztecs in it, capturing a hard-fought win on court two. The junior took the first set 6-4 over Jarvis and was able to hold off the senior in the second set, taking the match in a tiebreaker 7-6 (6-1).
Potter clinched the match for the Utes. Spiers claimed the first set 6-4, making that four first sets won by the Aztecs in singles play. The senior, however, was unable to capitalize on the early lead and fell 6-3, 6-4 in the second and third sets.
The court three matchup between Josserand and Teramo was left unfinished. The Aztec took the lead with a 6-4 first set victory, but dropped the second set by the same score. Things were all tied up 3-3 in the third stanza when the match was clinched.
“We gave ourselves a chance after dropping the doubles point by taking four first sets in singles,” said Head Coach Gene Carswell. “We put ourselves in a pretty good position. We were very much in it, so I have to give credit to Utah. They kept hanging around and they fought back. Our young team is learning and we’re going to grow from this experience. We’re going to bounce back tomorrow and put up a fight against another good team.”
The Aztecs return for day two of the Spring Invitational on Saturday morning, taking on Tulane at 10 a.m. at the Aztec Tennis Center.
Tulane fell 4-0 to UC Santa Barbara on Friday afternoon and is now 2-7 on the season.
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Singles
1. Berk Bugarikj (Utah) def. Philipp Bosse (SDSU) 6-1, 6-1
2. Eugenio Gonzalez Fitzmaurice (SDSU) def. Reid Jarvis (Utah) 6-4, 7-6 (6-1)
3. Mathieu Josserand (SDSU) vs. Dante Teramo (Utah) DNF 6-4, 4-6, 3-3
4. Alexander Mandma (SDSU) def. Max Relic (Utah) 6-1, 6-3
5. Emmett Potter (Utah) def. Liam Spiers (SDSU)4-6, 6-3, 6-4
6. Charles Frey (Utah) def. Denis Maijorov (SDSU) 7-5, 6-4
Doubles
1. Alexander Mandma/Mathieu Josserand (SDSU) vs. Reid Jarvis/Dante Teramo (Utah) DNF 4-4
2. Berk Bugarikj/Max Relic (Utah) def. Denis Maijorov/Liam Spiers (SDSU) 6-4
3. Emmett Potter/Nicolas Calixto (Utah) def. Eugenio Gonzalez Fitzmaurice/Paul Janson (SDSU) 6-2
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (1,4,6,2,5)