Oct. 8, 2016
SAN DIEGO -- Sophomore Raul de la Torre posted two victories in singles play and added another in doubles competition to lead the San Diego State men's tennis team at the Aztec Fall Invitational on Saturday at Aztec Tennis Center.
In the quarterfinal round of the Flight 2 singles bracket, de la Torre encountered minimal resistance in a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Andrew Gong of UC Irvine. The Torrey Pines High alumnus soon followed with another triumph in similar fashion over Florida Gulf Coast's Austin Bates, 6-1, 6-4.
With his results, de la Torre will square off against unattached player Reid Ponder in the championship final on Sunday.
In the Flight 2 doubles consolation finals, de la Torre teamed with Aztec freshman David Hough to defeat the mixed duo of UCI's Moritz Geis and Mathieu Ounanian of Grand Canyon by a count of 8-5.
In the Flight 1 doubles bracket, the SDSU freshman tandem of Joel Popov and Nicholas Mitchell was not as fortunate, however, falling in a nail-biter to the USC pairing of Henry Ji and David Laser, 8-7(5).
Popov experienced mixed results in his two Flight 1 singles matches against a pair of Grand Canyon foes on Saturday, outlasting Mathieu Rajaonah in a super tiebreaker, 6-3, 5-7, 10-6, in the round of 16 before suffering a setback to Lorenzo Fucile, 7-6(5), 6-0, in the quarterfinals.
Mitchell, meanwhile, was eliminated from the Flight 2 singles bracket after falling to Mason Hanson of UCI, 6-3, 7-6(1) in the quarterfinals. However, the Ojai, Calif., product picked up a win in consolation action with a straight-set triumph over Sreeganesh Manoharan of UCSD, 7-6, 6-2.
Rounding out the action for the Scarlet and Black on Saturday was Hough, who split his two consolation encounters. The native Australian emerged triumphant over Pratt Keerasuntonpong of USD, 6-3, 6-3, but came up short in a super tiebreaker against an unattached Connor Rapp, 4-6, 6-4, 10-7.
The Aztec Fall Invitational concludes on Sunday with the Flight 1 doubles championship and consolation finals matches at 9 a.m. PT, followed by singles championships and consolation draws. Admission is free to the public.
Aztec Fall Invitational
Aztec Tennis Center
San Diego, Calif.
SDSU Day Two Results Only
Doubles Flight 1
Semifinal Round
Henry Ji/David Laser (USC) def. Joel Popov/Nicholas Mitchell (SDSU), 8-7(5)
Doubles Flight 2
Consolation Finals
Raul de la Torre/David Hough (SDSU) def. Mathieu Ounanian (GCU)/Moritz Geis (UCI), 8-3
Singles Flight 1
Round of 16
Joel Popov (SDSU) def. Mathieu Rajaonah (GCU), 6-3, 5-7, 10-6
Quarterfinal Round
Lorenzo Fucile (GCU) def. Joel Popov (SDSU), 7-6(5), 6-0
Singles Flight 2
Quarterfinal Round
Raul de la Torre (SDSU) def. Andrew Gong (UCI), 6-1, 6-2
Mason Hanson (UCI) def. Nicholas Mitchell (SDSU), 6-3, 7-6(1)
Semifinal Round
Raul de la Torre (SDSU) def. Austin Bates (FGCU), 6-1, 6-4
Consolation Singles Matches
Nicholas Mitchell (SDSU) def. Sreeganesh Manoharan (UCSD), 7-6, 6-2
David Hough (SDSU) def. Pratt Keerasuntonpong (USD), 6-3, 6-3
Connor Rapp (IND) def. David Hough (SDSU), 4-6, 6-4, 10-7