Ranked Opponents Await Huskies In San Diego
THIS WEEK IN HUSKY MEN'S TENNIS
San Diego Shakedown Tournament
Hosted by University of San Diego at the Hogan Tennis Center
Thursday, Mar. 10
No. 37 San Diego hosts No. 71 New Mexico, 10 a.m.
No. 45 Washington vs. No. 47 Penn, 2 p.m. | Live Stream
Friday, Mar. 11
Thursday's winners play at a time TBD
Thursday's losers play at a time TBD
SEATTLE -- Up to its highest national ranking of the season this week at 45th, the Husky men's tennis team has another great opportunity to keep climbing as it takes part in a two-day, four-team tournament hosted by the San Diego Toreros where all four teams are currently ranked, and three inside the top-50. Washington (10-3, 1-0 Pac-12) first plays a neutral match-up against 47th-ranked Penn this Thursday at 2 p.m. Then Friday, depending on Thursday's results, the Dawgs will take on either the host Toreros, ranked 37th, or 71st-ranked New Mexico.
San Diego will take on New Mexico first on Thursday at 10 a.m. The winners of the two Thursday matches will face each other on Friday, and the losing teams will also meet on Friday, at times to be determined.
The Huskies are coming off a win in their Pac-12 opener at Oregon last weekend but return to non-conference play for the next few weeks. The ITA put out a new round of rankings today, with the Huskies moving up into the top-50 for the first time this season. Clement Chidekh lost the top singles ranking despite being 2-0 since the last ranking, but he only slipped to No. 3. Ewen Lumsden came in at No. 87, while UW now has both its top two doubles teams ranked: Chidekh and Suko at a season-high No. 34, and Jack Davis and Brandon Wong at No. 75.
Penn is now 8-3 on the season and will be playing for a third-straight day on Thursday. The Quakers lost a 5-2 match on Tuesday at 19th-ranked Pepperdine, and then dropped a 6-1 match today against No. 9 USC. Penn also has a 5-2 win over Wisconsin on its record, the same score by which the Huskies defeated the Badgers. Aditya Gupta has won both his singles matches at No. 3 singles this week.
San Diego recently earned its first win in program history over UCLA, by a 4-3 score. The Toreros are led by August Holmgren who is ranked sixth in the country and has been ranked No. 1 this season after he made the final of the ITA All-America Championship in the fall and then won the ITA National Fall Championships, where he gave Chidekh one of his three losses this year in the semifinals. Marvin Schaber of San Diego is also ranked 106th, and the doubles team of Holmgren and Guilherme Osorio is ranked 66th. Along with the win over UCLA, San Diego has a 4-0 win over Oregon, a 4-3 win over Arizona State, and a 2-5 loss to Arizona.
Whether or not the Huskies meet the Lobos, it will be a happy reunion for the Dawgs with former Associate Head Coach Chris Russell, now leading the Lobos. New Mexico is 5-5 this season and just entered the rankings at 71st. UNM has wins over Northern Arizona, Santa Clara, Grand Canyon, and two wins over BYU. They have played one Pac-12 team, a 6-1 loss to Utah.