Utah Finishes Day One of Utah Invite and Dar Walters Classic

SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah men's tennis team had a busy day on Friday as they competed at the Utah Invitational and the Dar Walters Classic. The Utes had a successful first day at both tournaments.
 
The Utes will be back in action on Saturday at the Dar Walters Classic hosted by Boise State. The Utes return to action on Sunday at their host tournament, Utah Invitational.
 
Utah Invitational I – Day 1 
The Utes kicked off the first day of the Utah Invitational Tournament on Friday at the George S. Eccles Tennis Center. The squad faced Weber State in the morning and Montana in the afternoon.
 
Patrik Trhac and Bruno Krenn competed in the first round of doubles against Wildcats Elyes Marouani and Tristan Sarap, defeating the duo 6-4. Jayson Blando and Michael Blando took on Sebastian Buxman and Matteo Savio, taking another victory and finishing 7-5.
 
The team moved onto into single matches, securing all but one court. Trhac defeated Buxman 7-5, 6-3. M. Blando also downed Savio for a final score of 6-1, 6-2. J. Blando battled into the third set with Weber State's Sarap and took the upper hand, closing out the match 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-1.
 
In the second round of doubles, Trhac/Krenn didn't play due to an injury, awarding Montana the win. While M. Blando/J. Blando downed Grizzlies Moritz Stoeger/Guillermo Martin 6-4.
 
In the final round of singles for the squad, Krenn did not compete due to injury, awarding Stoeger another victory. Trhac took another victory after a long set against Montana's Theilgaard, finishing 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-2. J. Blando also took a victory, downing Fernando Perez 7-5, 6-2. M. Blando fought but ultimately dropped his match 7-6(2), 6-3 to Guillermo Martin.
 
Dar Walters Classic – Day 1 
The Utah quartette began competition this morning in Boise, Idaho, at the Dar Walters Classic. One of the Utah teams moved forward in the main draw for the tournament, and the other has moved to the consolation draw.
 
Dylan Applegate and Charlie Spina won the day's matches 2-1. Beginning with doubles, the Utes team secured the win against Idaho's Vivek Ramesh/Adam Taylor 6-4. Applegate dropped his singles match in three sets to Ramesh for a final score of 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. Spina took a victory against Taylor, finishing 6-3, 6-3 and securing the duo's spot in tomorrow's main draw quarterfinals.
 
Rian Ta and Geremia Rossi lost today's matches 2-1, moving to the consolation draw for the remainder of the tournament. The Utah team took the upper hand against host duo Ryo Minakata/James Van Herzeele 6-4. However, both competitors lost their singles matches, Ta losing 6-1, 6-2, and Rossi losing 6-4, 6-1.
 
Action will begin once more tomorrow at 9 a.m. MT at the Appleton Tennis Center, as Applegate/Spina, face Franciso Bascon and Taiyo Kurata from Idaho, and Ta/Rossi meet Luke Vandecasteele and August Gustafson from Oregon.
 
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