Utah Men's Tennis Captures 6-1 Victories in Season-Opening Double Header - The Official Athletic Site of the University of Utah

Utah Men's Tennis Captures 6-1 Victories in Season-Opening Double Header
The Utes rout Weber State and Idaho State.

52nd-ranked sophomore Slim Hamza clinched the match for Utah in its 6-1 victory over Weber State.

SALT LAKE CITY - The University of Utah men's tennis team (2-0) netted identical 6-1 victories over Weber State and Idaho State in its season-opening double header Saturday at the Eccles Tennis Center. Despite dropping the doubles point in both matches, the Utes did not give up a single individual match.

Weber State Recap

Results

In doubles play, junior Devin Lane and sophomore Slim Hamza teamed up at the No. 1 doubles position, downing Todd Fought and Sanjay Goswami, 8-2. Then, at the No. 2 spot, junior Alejandro Medinilla and sophomore Cedric Willems suffered an 8-3 loss to Caio Poitena and Oliver Good. Finally, at the No. 3 slot, senior Dmytro Mamedov and sophomore Rafael Davidian couldn't clinch the doubles point for the Utes and fell to Anthony Trabert and Ryan Garner, 8-6.

Early on in singles play, Medinilla routed Goswami, 6-4, 6-2, at the No. 4 singles position, tying the match at one apiece. Junior Ben Tasevac then downed Ben Rode at the No. 6 slot, 6-2, 6-1, putting the Utes up 2-1. Lane then followed with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Poitena at the No. 5 spot. No. 52 Hamza then clinched the match for Utah at 4-1, vanquishing Good at the No. 2 slot, 6-4, 6-2.

With the match in hand for the Utes, Willems topped Jakub Gewert, 7-5, 6-1, at the No. 2 singles spot. 85th-ranked Mamedov then made the final score 6-1 with a 6-4, 7-6(5) victory over Fought at the top slot.

Idaho State Recap
The Utes returned just a short while after their 6-1 victory over Weber State to claim a second victory against Idaho State.

In doubles play, Wilems and Medinilla were defeated by Christian Marian and Jamey Swiggart, 8-4, at the No. 2 position. Lane and Hamza then routed Nate Gross and Charles Norman at the No. 1 spot, 8-3, but Utah was ultimately unable to capture the deciding point as Mamedov and Davidian then suffered a tight 9-8(6) loss to Andres Coello and Krzysztof Stempien at the No. 3 slot.

Utah came out strong in singles action and captured six straight victories. At the top spot, No. 85 Mamedov downed Marian, 7-5, 6-1. No. 52 Hamza then defeated Stempien, 6-4, 6-2, at the No. 2 position. Medinilla then managed a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Norman at the No. 3 slot, making the score 3-1 in favor of the Utes.

Lane and Tasevac then captured close victories at the No. 4 and 5 positions, respectively. Lane battled Gross to a tight 7-6(5), 6-4 win, while Tasevac topped Swiggart, 7-6(5), 6-0. Finally, Davidian defeated Coello, 6-4, 6-1 at the No. 6 spot, making the final score 6-1.

Utah returns to action at the Eccles Tennis Center Saturday, Jan. 26 against Montana at 5 p.m.