Men’s Tennis Opens Play Saturday Against Idaho State
FIRST SERVE
After closing out a successful fall season, the Utah men's tennis team opens up its highly anticipated spring season on Saturday. The Utes kickoff the season with a doubleheader against Idaho State on Saturday at the George S. Eccles Tennis Center. The Utes and the Bengals will play at 12 p.m. and 6 p.m.
MATCH INFORMATION
Utah (0-0) vs. Idaho State (0-0)
DATE | TIME: Saturday, Jan. 15 | 12 p.m. and 6 p.m.
LOCATION: Salt Lake City, Utah | George S. Eccles Tennis Center
LIVE STATS: Click Here (Match 1) | Click Here (Match 2)
LIVE STREAM: Click Here
TWITTER UPDATES: @UtahTennis
MASK MANDATE
The University of Utah has issued a campus mask order consistent with the Salt Lake County mask order that went into effect on Jan. 8. All people are required to wear well-fitting masks indoors on-campus, which applies to all Utah Athletics events that take place in the George S. Eccles Tennis Center.
HOME SWEET HOME
The Utes play 15 home matches at the George S. Eccles Tennis Center. Since the beginning of the 2015 season, the Utes have dominated home play and hold a 76-20 (.791) record at the Eccles Tennis Center. In the past three seasons, Utah holds a 37-7 (.840) record in Salt Lake City. Last season, the Utes went 13-3 at home, the most since in a single season since 2015.
LOOKING BACK AT THE FALL
During the fall season, Franco Capalbo awarded the team with their first ITA Regional Champions title in singles main draw since 2015. This win allowed Capalbo to qualify and compete at the ITA Fall Championships as well. The squad also saw two players, Capalbo and Geronimo Busleiman, compete at the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla. The Utes hosted their only home tournament of the fall season and took the first-place title in two of the five groups for singles matches. Titles continued to be collected this fall when Mathias Gavelin claimed the individual title of the Orange singles draw.
LOOKING BACK AT 2021
The Utes had a very successful 2020-21 season, despite the unprecedented limitations placed upon the squad due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During their last season, the Utes went 18-12 overall, and 13-3 in home matches. The team faced players from all over the country and showed stellar performances regardless of the circumstances.
LAST SEASON VS ISU
Last season, the Utes and Bengals squared off twice in Salt Lake City. Utah came away with two, 5-2, victories on the day.
SCOUTING IDAHO STATE
The Utes and Bengals are no strangers to each other as they each played in each other's fall tournaments. The Bengals come to Salt Lake City for the season opener during the 2022 season. Idaho State went 8-11 last season and were 3-9 in true road matches. The Bengals are led by Patrik Trhac and Aleksandar Petrovic, both of which are seniors. The senior duo went 13-16 last season with Trhac going 6-9, while Petrovik was 7-8 in singles action.
UP NEXT
After Saturday's matches the Utah men will hit the road for the next four matches as they head to Colorado, New Mexico, and California. The road trip starts in Denver against Denver University on Friday, Jan. 21 at 6 p.m. MT before play at the University of New Mexico on Sunday at 12 p.m. MT.
FOLLOW THE UTES!
Fans can follow along during the 2022 season on social media (Twitter: @UtahTennis | Instagram: @UtahTennis | Facebook: Facebook.com/Utahmenstennis).