Thorsten Bertsch Earns First ATP Point
Men's Tennis

Thorsten Bertsch Earns First ATP Point

Thorsten Bertsch Earns First ATP PointThorsten Bertsch Earns First ATP Point

Sept. 27, 2013

LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. - San Diego State men's tennis player Thorsten Bertsch (Mannheim, Germany) earned his first-career Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) point on Wednesday, after winning a main-draw match in the Laguna Niguel USTA Pro Futures.

Bertsch, a junior at SDSU, won four qualifying rounds to advance to the main draw, where he beat Masayoshi Ono, 3-6, 7-5, 6-0. Bertsch lost the first set, but rallied from an 0-3 deficit in the second set to break serve at 5-5, before eventually going on to win, 7-5. The Mannheim, Germany native got an early break in the third set and went on to earn a convincing victory over Ono, 6-0, to seal the match victory.

The victory is a major accomplishment for any tennis player, as Bertsch will have a world ranking next week. He later lost to former USC standout and No. 1 seed Daniel Nguyen, 6-1, 6-3, in the round of 16 on Thursday, where he could have earned two more ATP points with a win.

In addition, Bertsch and senior doubles partner Hunter Nicholas (Park City, Utah) played a main-draw wildcard in doubles action, where the duo beat Caryl Hernandez and Justin Agbayani in the first round, 7-6 (4), 6-4. Bertsch and Nicholas later lost in the quarterfinals by the No. 2 seed in a tight three-set battle, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 10-4.

Bertsch landed at No. 114 on the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) 2013 Division I Preseason Men's Singles Rankings on Sept. 6. He earned all-Mountain West honors in both singles and doubles play last season, finishing dual play with a 16-5 record. Bertsch was 3-2 against ranked opponents last year with a 14-2 mark in the No. 2 singles slot. He enters this season with 64 total career dual-match victories.

Nicholas will also have a big role with the Aztecs this season after earning all-MW honors in doubles play with Bertsch a season ago. Nicholas posted a 15-8 record in singles play during the dual season, including 14 victories in the No. 3 slot.

San Diego State begins its fall season on Saturday, Sept. 28, at the ITA Men's All-American Tournament in Tulsa, Okla., before hosting the Aztec Invitational Oct. 4-6 at Aztec Tennis Center. SDSU is coming off a Mountain West regular-season championship, as the Aztecs finished conference play with a 6-0 record.