No. 15 Arizona Dominates GCU to Open Spring
TUCSON, Ariz. – The Arizona men's tennis team did not drop a point in its spring opener, taking down GCU 7-0 at LaNelle Robson Center on Sunday afternoon.
"We're very happy to get back out on the court and get a win," said head coach Clancy Shields. "We always say as coaches that it can always be better but we had to get some jitters out especially with a tough match coming up next week, the road ahead of us is really tough. We're going to have to straighten some things out."
Carlos Hassey was first off the court for the Wildcats, taking down GCU's Loic Van Zeggelaar in straight-sets 6-2, 6-2. Shortly after Hassey wrapped up, Gustaf Strom finished a dominant showing as he bested Jiri Novak 6-1, 6-0 on court two in his return from a back injury that sidelined him towards the end of the fall season.
Gustaf is back from an injury and he DOMINATED in his return to the court. We caught up with he super Swede post-match! ????#BearDown | #SaguaroSoldiers pic.twitter.com/wH3UbvyWaU
— Arizona Men's Tennis (@ArizonaMTennis) January 17, 2022
The wins continued to roll in for Arizona as No. 53 Herman Hoeyeraal won 6-3, 6-2 on court four followed by Filip Malbasic's 6-4, 6-1 sweep on court six while Jonas Zivarts won a hard-fought match, 6-2, 6-4, on court one.
Colton Smith put the finishes touches on the Wildcats perfect day. After dominating the first game 6-0, Smith dropped game two 7-6. However, the freshman battled back to claim the match with a 7-6 (10-7) win in the third and final game on court three.
"I'm happy for our guys, Colton got the first win of his career and Gustav barely played in the fall so to see him come out and win convincingly so those were two bright spots," Shields added.
Earlier in the day, the Cats went a perfect 3-for-3 in doubles with the team of Ziverts and Hoeyraal winning 6-3 on court one, Hassey and Smith winning 6-4 on court two and Nick Lagaev and Malbasic completing the sweep with a 7-6 (7-5) win on court three.
The Wildcats now ready for a showdown with No. 3 Texas on Friday, Jan. 21, at 2 p.m. (MST) at the LaNelle Robson Center. As always, admission is free for all fans.