April 25, 2018
MW Men's Tennis Championship Page
SAN DIEGO -- San Diego State opens postseason play on Thursday when it battles New Mexico in the first round of the 2018 Mountain West Championship at Aztec Tennis Center, starting at 6 p.m. PT. In addition to live stats, a link to streaming video will be available on GoAztecs.com via the Mountain West Network.
SDSU (5-19) finished in a tie for fourth place with UNLV and Nevada in the MW standings during the regular season, as all three schools posted a 3-4 record in conference play. Despite defeating both opponents earlier this year, however, the Aztecs received the No. 6 seed behind the fourth-seeded Rebels and the No. 5 seed Wolf Pack by virtue of the latest ITA rankings released April 24.
SDSU has been idle since April 15, when it dropped a 4-1 decision to Fresno State in its regular-season finale on the road. The Aztecs lost a hotly contested doubles point against the Bulldogs, but could not regroup in singles play, falling in three of four completed matches.
Sophomore Rafael Gonzalez Almazan leads the Scarlet and Black with 17 victories on the year, including 10 at four different positions in dual-match competition, while freshman Ignacio Martinez has compiled 12 wins this season, highlighted by his first triumph in the No. 1 spot vs. Air Force on April 8.
Not to be outdone, the Aztecs boast an all-MW singles performer in sophomore Arnaud Restifo, who has recorded three wins against conference opponents this spring in the No. 2 position, including the clinching point in SDSU's come-from-behind 4-3 victory at Nevada on April 13 with a three-set triumph over the Wolf Pack's Kostya Nesterenko, 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-4.
In addition, the Aztecs have benefited recently from the solid play of junior Raul de la Torre, who is 5-1 at No. 6 singles since landing a spot in the rotation.
In doubles action, Gonzalez Almazan has joined forces with junior Sander Gjoels-Andersen to garner all-MW accolades. The duo has compiled a 4-2 record this spring, including a 3-1 ledger in MW matches alternating between the first and third positions in the lineup.
New Mexico (15-10, 4-3 MW) ended the regular season with a flourish, winning three straight, including a 4-0 whitewash of Air Force at home on April 21 to earn the league's No. 3 seed this week.
Individually, the Lobos sport two all-MW singles players in senior Bart Van Leijsen and junior Ricky Hernandez-Tong. Hernandez-Tong owns a 13-6 ledger rotating between the top two positions, highlighted by a 6-1, 6-4 triumph over then-No. 66 Benjamin Hannestad of Arizona State on March 24, while Van Leijsen (11-13) snapped a four-match slide with a victory in the No. 2 slot vs. Air Force.
UNM has also reaped rewards from freshman Stepan Holis, who has amassed a 14-8 record playing in four different positions on the Lobos' ladder.
In doubles, Van Leijsen has combined with fellow classmate Jorge Escutia to earn all-MW recognition as well, logging 14 victories at the No. 1 spot this spring, including five straight, while Hernandez-Tong racked up 11 wins of his own, including the last five with Holis in the third slot.
The Aztecs are 21-18 against UNM dating back to 1989, suffering a 4-3 heartbreaker at home earlier this month on April 6. In that contest, SDSU captured the doubles point, but could not capitalize on its early fortune, as the Lobos stormed back with four wins in singles play.
The two sides also squared off in the quarterfinals of the MW Championship a year ago in Boise, Idaho, with the Aztecs prevailing by a 4-2 count. New Mexico won the doubles round, but the Scarlet and Black fought back in singles, claiming four of five matches, including victories by Gonzalez Almazan and Joel Popov.
If San Diego State gets past the Lobos on Thursday, it would face the winner of the Fresno State-Air Force clash on Friday, April 27, at 3 p.m. PT.