Men's Tennis Welcomes Oregon and Washington to SLC

FIRST SERVE
The Utah men's tennis team returns home after three straight weeks of playing on the road. Friday's matchup against No. 44 Oregon will be Utah's first match at home since Feb. 26, when they defeated Weber State, 4-0. The Utes will close the weekend against No. 46 Washington. Both matches will start at 12 p.m. MT.  

UTAH IN THE POLLS
The ITA Team National Rankings were announced on Wednesday. Utah came in at No. 35. The ITA Collegiate Tennis Division I Men's Team Rankings feature the nation's Top 75 teams.
 
ITA PLAYER RANKINGS
After a busy week of play, the ITA Division I Men's Rankings came out on Wednesday. The doubles team of Franco Capalbo and Geronimo Espin Busleiman came in ranked as the 22nd in the rankings. This is the first time this duo has been ranked this season. The pair is 16-1 on the season with wins over then-No. 17 and then-No. 32 double teams. Capalbo and Espin Busleiman have won nine of their last ten matches. 
 
LAST TIME OUT FOR THE UTES
The Utah squad had four road matches against some tough competition the last few weekends. Despite dropping the matches, the Utes showed excellent performances against some top-ranked players in all of the four matches. Utah's No. 1 doubles team, consisting of Capalbo and Espin Busleiman, is 16-1 overall and 2-0 in conference play. Capalbo also holds the best singles record for the team, currently 14-4 and closely followed by teammates Espin Busleiman and Francisco Bastias, with 13-1 and 12-4, respectively. 
 
HOME SWEET HOME
Since the beginning of the 2015 season, the Utes have dominated home play and hold an 86-20 (.811) record at the Eccles Tennis Center. In the past four seasons, Utah holds a 47-7 (.870) record in Salt Lake City. Last season, the Utes went 13-3 at home, the most since in a single season since 2015. Utah is 10-0 at home this season. 
 
SCOUTING OREGON
The Utes will face the Oregon Ducks up first this Friday. The Ducks have a 9-6 record for the season and are 0-1 in conference play. The Ducks are ranked No. 44 in the latest ITA National Team Ranking. Joshua Charlton is ranked No. 79 in singles, while the doubles team of Charlton and Quinn Vandecasteele is ranked No. 25. The Ducks defeated then-No. 21 Pepperdine earlier this year, 4-3, which is the only ranked victory for Oregon. Oregon is coming off a 4-3 win over Nebraska on Wednesday. Charlton entered the week with a 16-6 record in singles. The doubles team of Charlton and Vandecasteele is 14-4 on the season. 
 
SCOUTING WASHINGTON
Utah will face the Washington Huskies on Sunday, who currently have a 12-4 overall record and 1-0 in conference play. The Huskies are ranked No. 46 in the latest ITA National Team Rankings. Clement Chidekh and Ewen Lumsden are ranked for the Huskies in singles. Chidekh is ranked No. 4 in the nation, while Lumsden is No. 100. The Huskies double team of Chidekh and Nedim Suko is ranked No. 34 by the ITA. Washington played Tuesday at UNLV and won 4-1. They will play Northern Arizona on Thursday before playing the Utes on Sunday. The Huskies have won four of their last five matches. 
 
BEST START IN PROGRAM HISTORY
The Utes opened the season 16-0, which is the best start in program history. The previous school record was 11-0, which was set during the 2015-16 season.
  
UP NEXT 
Following this weekend of matches, Utah returns to action on Friday, April 8, when they travel to Tucson, Arizona, to face the University of Arizona. The match is slated to start at 3 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).