Men's Tennis Falls to UCLA in Pac-12 Quarterfinals

OJAI, Calif. – The No. 33 Utah men's tennis team's run at the Pac-12 Championships ended on Thursday when the UCLA Bruins eliminated the Utes, 4-2, in the quarterfinals.
 
The Utes and Bruins were locked in tight battles in every doubles match. The first doubles match to be complete was No. 3, where Jeffrey Fradkin and Bryce Pereira edged the Ute's duo of Jayson Blando and Mathias Gavelin, 6-4. UCLA locked up the doubles point by winning No. 2 doubles, 7-5, over Francisco Bastias and Bruno Caula. Geronimo Espin Busleiman and Franco Capalbo were tied at 4-4, and their match would go unfinished.
 
Heading to singles, the Utes would need to win four of the six matches to earn the victory. However, singles did not get out to a fast start for the Utes. Stefan Leustian defeated Gavelin, 6-3, 6-1, in No. 5 singles and putting the Bruins ahead 2-0.
 
UCLA stretched the lead to 3-0 after Giacomo Revelli defeated Francisco Bastias. After dropping the first set 6-4, Bastias battled back to win the second set, 6-2. Revelli came away with a 6-3 win in the third set.
 
Trailing 3-0, Utah started to mount a comeback. Espin Busleiman clinched the first point for the Utes in No. 3 singles. After winning the first set in a tiebreaker 7-6 (6), he would win the second set 7-5. Right behind him was Bruno Krenn. Krenn won the first set 6-4 before falling to Jeffrey Fradkin, 6-4, in the second set. Krenn answered back in the third set, winning 6-3 for Utah's second point.
 
The Utes were battling as Franco Capalbo and Bruno Caula both dropped their first sets of singles. Both of them responded and won the second set to force a third. Capalbo won 7-6 (6) in his second set, while Caula won 6-1. Caula took an early lead in the third set but could not hold on and would fall 7-6 (3), and Utah would drop the match 4-2.
 
Capalbo's match would go unfinished as he trailed 3-2 in the third set.
  
#46 UCLA 4, #33 Utah 2
Singles (5,2,3,6,4)
Franco Capalbo (UTAH) vs. #75 Patrick Zahraj (UCLA), 4-6, 7-6 (6), 2-3 unf.
Giacomo Revelli (UCLA) def. Francisco Bastias (UTAH), 6-4, 2-6, 6-3
#98 Geronimo Espin Busleiman (UTAH) def. Karl Lee (UCLA) 7-6 (6), 7-5
Bryce Pereira (UCLA) def. Bruno Caula (UTAH), 7-6 (4), 1-6, 7-6 (3)
Stefan Leustian (UCLA) def. Mathias Gavelin (UTAH), 6-3, 6-1
Bruno Krenn (UTAH) def. Jeffrey Fradkin (UCLA), 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
 
Doubles (3,2)
#26 Franco Capalbo/Geronimo Espin Busleiman (UTAH) vs. Patrick Zahraj/Giacomo Revelli (UCLA) 4-4, unf.
Max Wild/Karl Lee (UCLA) def. Francisco Bastias/Bruno Caula (UTAH), 7-5
Bryce Pereira/Jeffrey Fradkin (UCLA) def. Jayson Blando/Mathias Gavelin (UTAH), 6-4
 
UP NEXT
The Utes will wait and see if they qualify for the NCAA Men's Tennis Championship. The selection show is set for Monday, May 2 at 4 p.m. MT.
 
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