Arizona men’s tennis suffers its first loss of the season

The Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s inaugural weekend was held last weekend for the Arizona men’s tennis team in Austin, Texas. Arizona faced Florida Atlantic University and the University of Texas at Austin at UT’s Weller Tennis Center. The Wildcats swept FAU but suffered their first loss of the season against Texas, ranked No. 6 by the ITA.

January 28: Well. 14 Arizona (2-0) vs. FAU (3-2) in round 1

The Wildcats played the FAU Owls in the first round of the ITA Kickoff. The doubles pairs of Colton Smith and Jay Friend and Gustaf Strom and Eric Padgham both won their singles points to secure a 1-0 lead. After finishing first in the singles competition, Herman Hoeyeraal secured the first singles point from FAU’s Joao Graca, winning his match 6-3 and 6-4. After Hoeyeraals’ victory, Smith and Strom won both their matches in similar fashion 6-1, 6-4. After the Wildcats put on a dominating performance in singles, they secured the match 4-0.

January 29: No. 14 Arizona (3-0) vs. No. 6 Texas (4-0) in round 2

In the second round of the ITA Kickoff Weekend in Austin, the Wildcats suffered their first loss of the season against the Texas Longhorns. Texas men’s tennis is one of the top contenders for the NCAA Championship. The doubles pairs of Jonas Ziverts and Hoeyeraal and Smith and Friend lost their matches, giving Texas the doubles point. Arizona tried to fight back, but the Longhorns were on the rise. Texas’ Siem Woldeab defeated Hoeyeraal in the first match off the court in singles 7-6 (7-5), 6-3. After that match, Cleeve Harper extended Texas’ lead into Arizona by beating Friend 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) at No. 5 singles. Strom’s last loss secured Texas’ 4-0 victory over the Wildcats. Well. No. 6 Texas secured its bid to the ITA Tennis National Team Indoor Championships for the fifth straight year.

Arizona men’s tennis is back in Tucson on Friday against Pepperdine University at 12 p.m.

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