Jan. 18, 2005
SAN DIEGO -
SDSU Men's Tennis Weekly Release
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Aztecs Open 2005 Season On The Road Against Pac-10 Foe Southern California
* The No. 71 San Diego State men's tennis opens the 2005 season on the road with a date against eighth-ranked Southern California at Marks Stadium at 2:30 p.m.
The Aztecs are looking to win their season opener for the second time in the last three seasons. In 2003, SDSU beat Brigham Young, 4-0, and fell to No. 47 William & Mary, 7-0, last year. In the last 10 seasons, the Aztecs have compiled a record of 3-7 in season openers (0-3 on the road).
Carswell's New Addition
* Head coach Gene Carswell enters his second season at the helm of the men's tennis program. After a stellar collegiate career and five years as an SDSU assistant coach, Carswell brings a ton of knowledge and experience to the program. Add in the fact that assistant coach Oliver Maiberger was a five-time All-American and now you have one of the most knowledgable staffs in the Mountain West Conference.
But if you could add a coach with an outstanding collegiate career and professional tennis experience, ceratainly anyone would jump on the opportunity. That is exactly what Carswell did with the addition of volunteer assistant Devin Bowen.
Bowen, a four-year letterwinner at Texas Christian, earned all-Southwest Conference team singles and doubles honors from 1992-94. His doubles team was ranked as high as No. 2 nationally and indiviudally, was ranked 31st in singles.
After his collegiate career ended, Bowen enjoyed success as a professional. In 2003, he reached a career high doubles ranking of No. 39. He played in 27 consecutive grand slam events reaching the quarterfinal round of the U.S. Open in 2001 and 2002.
Bowen, who has maintained a world ranking from 1990-present, has collected wins over Gustavo Kuerten, Carlos Moya, Marat Safin and Marty Fish as well as world No. 1 doubles team of Jared Palmer and Don Johnson.
In 2003, Bowen won the doubles ATP Tour event in Amersfoort, The Netherlands.
The Future is Now
* The Aztecs return four letterwinners from last year's 11-9 (2-2 MWC) team. Among the returners are seniors Armando Carrascosa, Dontia Haynes and Daniel Jung. Also returning is the 2004 Mountain West Conference freshman of the year Markus Dickhardt. In addition to the four letterwinners, junior Benedikt Stronk and sophomore Chris Groh will see their first action after fulfilling their residency requirements.
New to the program are junior college transfer Eugenio Romero and freshmen Matt Bittner and Nima Ossareh. Romero is expected to play immediately with the two freshmen utilizing their redshirt year.
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