Oct. 8, 2017
SAN DIEGO – San Diego State's Rafael Gonzalez Almazan (Madrid, Spain) captured the Flight 2 singles championship at the Aztec Fall Invitational Sunday at Aztec Tennis Center.
The SDSU sophomore defeated Liberty's Eddie Gutierrez by a 6-4, 6-2 count to highlight the final day of competition for the Scarlet and Black in its only home event of the fall tournament schedule.
With his title, Gonzalez Almazan claimed his second crown of the weekend after combining with junior Raul de la Torre (Calexico, Calif.) on Saturday to capture the Flight 2 doubles final with a 6-4 triumph over the split tandem of SDSU redshirt freshman Daniel de la Torre (Calexico, Calif.) and Liberty's Max Borcuti.
Daniel de la Torre also emerged victorious in the Flight 2 singles third-place match Sunday, where he outlasted USD's Garrett Kurtz in two hard-fought sets, 6-4, 7-6(7).
Conversely, sophomore Arnaud Restifo (Nice, France) was not as fortunate in his Flight 1 semifinal encounter with the Toreros' August Holmgren, dropping a 6-1, 6-2 decision.
Earlier in the Flight 1 doubles championship, the Aztec pairing of junior Sander Gjoels-Andersen (Klampenborg, Denmark) and sophomore Nicholas Mitchell (Ojai, Calif.) fell just short of a title with a narrow 7-5 loss to UCLA's Austin Rapp and Ben Goldberg.
San Diego State returns to the courts in two weeks when it competes in the ITA Regional Championships, Oct. 19-23, in Malibu, California.
Aztec Fall Invitational
Day Three
Oct. 8, 2017
Aztec Tennis Center
San Diego, Calif.
SDSU Results Only
Doubles Flight 1
Championship
Austin Rapp/Ben Goldberg (UCLA) def. Sander Gjoels-Andersen/Nicholas Mitchell (SDSU), 7-5
Singles Flight 1
Semifinal Round
August Holmgren (USD) def. Arnaud Restifo (SDSU), 6-1, 6-2
Singles Flight 2
Championship Final
Rafael Gonzalez Almazan (SDSU) def. Eddie Gutierrez (Liberty), 6-4, 6-2
Third-Place Match
Daniel de la Torre (SDSU) def. Garrett Kurtz (USD), 6-4, 7-6(7)