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Men's Tennis To Host Stanford Sunday, Prep For Doubleheader Tuesday

Mar 27, 2021

FIRST SERVE
The Utah men's tennis team (11-7, 1-3 Pac-12) is set to host Stanford (2-2) this Sunday, March 26 at the George S. Eccles Tennis Center to begin a short home swing. Following the matchup against the Cardinal on Sunday, the Utes will have a quick turnaround when the squad hosts San Diego State (3-7, 0-1 MW) and Montana State (3-4, 0-1 Big Sky) for a doubleheader on Tuesday, March 30. Utah will first play San Diego State at 12 p.m. MT, while the match against Montana State is scheduled for 5 p.m. MT.

Live results for all three matches can be found here, while a live stream will be available here.
  
LEADING THE LINEUP
Utah has seen a team-high 11 dual wins from Francisco Bastias, who has played primarily between the No. 3 and No. 4 positions. Fellow newcomer Geronimo Busleiman has put up 10 dual wins for the Utes with his wins coming primarily from courts three and two. Behind the two transfers are Slava Shainyan and Bruno Krenn with nine dual wins apiece. The four Utes have been solid all season long and have been starters in every match.

BETTER TOGETHER
Utah's top doubles team of Franco Capalbo and Geronimo Busleiman have posted an 8-4 record so far this season in doubles action on court one. The Ute pair posted a win over the nation's then-No. 42-ranked duo from Denver this season and had a stretch of five-straight wins spanning over a month's play, including a mark of seven-of-eight matches. Coming to Salt Lake City with court experience together, Capalbo and Busleiman were doubles teammates during their junior careers and excelled as partners. The duo reached the semifinals of the Junior French Open and won the Grade 1 ITS in Canada leading up to the U.S. Open.

SCOUTING STANFORD
Stanford comes into the match against Utah with just five matches on the season after the delayed start for the Cardinal. Stanford won its opening matches against Santa Clara and Saint Mary's, but have since dropped three straight which have all come against ranked opponents. Stanford is led by All-Americans Alexandre Rotsaert and Axel Geller, who have played between the top courts to start the year in singles. Arthur Fery holds a team-high three dual wins between courts two and three. Stanford began the 2021 season ranked fifth in the nation, but has since fallen out of the rankings after the late start to the year. The Cardinal returned all 12 members of last year's campaign that ranked as high as No. 8.
 
SCOUTING SAN DIEGO STATE
San Diego State is coming off a 4-3 loss to Washington prior to making the trip to Salt Lake City. The Aztecs have wins over Loyola Marymount and UC San Diego on the season. Johannes Seeman leads the team with a 6-2 overall record on the top court, while Seeman and Victor Castro hold a 2-1 record at the top doubles position. Ignacio Martinez has collected two wins on court two in singles to add to the Aztecs lineup.

SCOUTING MONTANA STATE
Montana State will play three matches in two days against Utah state opponents before facing the Utes on Tuesday. The Bobcats have dropped four straight heading into the weekend, but had started the year with three consecutive wins over Idaho State twice and Seattle U. Joaquin Espinoza leads the team and has played between the No. 1 and No. 2 singles positions, along with Nejc Sitar who has also played between the top two courts.

LAST TIME OUT
Utah picked up its first Pac-12 win of the season last weekend in a thriller over Washington. The Utes found themselves behind 3-0 and needed all four remaining singles matches to win. The four matches all went to three-set matches where Bruno Krenn, Franco Capalbo, Mathias Gavelin and Francisco Bastias picked up steam and turned the match around for Utah. All four Utes knocked off their opponents in nail biters to pull off the 4-3 comeback in Seattle. Utah couldn't follow up the emotional win to close out the weekend and dropped a road match to Oregon.
 
UP NEXT
Utah will hit the road and play Nevada and UC Davis before returning to Pac-12 play next weekend. Utah will face Nevada on Thursday, April 1 at 1 p.m. MT in Reno, Nev. The Utes will then turn around the next day and play UC Davis in Davis, Calif. at 11 a.m. MT before returning to Salt Lake City.