Men's Tennis Wins Fourth-Straight Following 4-1 Win Over New Mexico
SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah men's tennis team won its fourth-straight match Sunday afternoon at the George S. Eccles Tennis Center, defeating New Mexico by a score of 4-1. The Utes battled throughout and saw a total team effort to get the job done against fellow Mountain Region opponent.
Doubles play set the tone of the match as all three courts were tight through its entirety. New Mexico picked up the win on court three 6-3, but the top two doubles matches went game-for-game all the way through. Franco Capalbo and Geronimo Busleiman ended the trading of games when the Ute duo won back-to-back games at the end to win 6-4.
With the doubles point to be decided on court two, Slava Shainyan and Mathias Gavelin traded games throughout the entire set and went to a tiebreaker with the set at 6-6. The No. 2 Ute duo gained an early advantage in the tiebreaker, but the Lobos fended off multiple match points and completed the comeback to win 9-7 in the tiebreak and clinch the doubles point.
Busleiman picked up the first singles win quickly to tie the match at 1-1. Busleiman controlled the entire match and downed New Mexico's Holis handedly on court two, winning 6-2, 6-1. Utah pulled ahead with a win on court five from Bruno Krenn. Krenn dropped the first set 6-4, but regained control of the match and bounced back to post 6-1 victories in the second and third, putting Utah up 2-1.
The Utes found themselves in battles across the remaining courts, but it was Capalbo who rallied back for another Utah point on court two. Capalbo dropped his first set like Krenn, 6-4, but after the second set was tied at 3-3, Capalbo took the next three games to send it to a third set. He then completed the comeback with a 6-2 win in the third to gain match point, 3-1, for Utah.
Shainyan and Chris Heck were both head to third sets on courts one and six, respectively, while Bastias was battling in a second set after he pulled out a 7-6 (3) win in the first. Bastias took an early 4-0 lead over the Lobos' Abdulsalam and pulled through for Utah and ended the match with a 6-3 win in the second set. Shainyan and Heck were both leading early in their respective third sets before the match was ended.
Utah men's tennis will be back in action next Saturday, Feb. 13 against the Boise State Broncos. The Utes and Broncos will have the first serve at 12 p.m. MT at the George S. Eccles Tennis Center.
Utah 4, New Mexico 1
Singles (3,5,2,4)
1. Slava Shainyan (UTAH) vs. Dominic West (NM) 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 1-0, unf.
2. Franco Capalbo (UTAH) def. Raul Dobai (NM) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
3. Geronimo Busleiman (UTAH) def. Stepan Holis (NM) 6-2, 6-1
4. Francisco Bastias (UTAH) def. Rafael Abdulsalam (NM) 7-6 (7-3), 6-3
5. Bruno Krenn (UTAH) def. Facundo Bermejo (NM) 4-6, 6-1, 6-1
6. Chris Heck (UTAH) vs. Jake Trondson (NM) 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 2-1, unf.
Doubles (3,1,2)
1. Franco Capalbo/Geronimo Busleiman (UTAH) def. Dominic West/Sergio Molina (NM) 6-4
2. Jake Trondson/Raul Dobai (NM) def. Slava Shainyan/Mathias Gavelin (UTAH) 7-6 (9-7)
3. Facundo Bermejo/Stepan Holis (NM) def. Luis Flores/Francisco Bastias (UTAH) 6-3