FRESNO, Calif. – Three San Diego State men's tennis players recorded victories in singles competition on Friday to open the Bulldog Classic hosted by Fresno State.
In Flight A, sophomore Jan Kirchhoff (Berlin, Germany) extended his winning streak to six matches with a 6-2, 6-4 conquest of UC Davis' Mitchell Iwahiro, while junior Arnaud Restifo (Nice, France) posted a nearly identical result, dispatching Nevada's Jeremy Merville by a 6-2, 6-3 tally.
With their decisions, Kirchhoff will square off against Azusa Pacific's Jakob Schnaitter in the quarterfinals on Saturday, while Restifo will battle San Francisco's Nitzan Ricklis.
Rafael Gonzalez Almazan (Madrid, Spain) also emerged triumphant in his Flight B encounter with Boris Reckow of Saint Mary's, dismissing his Gael adversary by a 6-4, 6-2 count. Consequently, the Aztec junior punched his ticket to the quarterfinals, where he will face Nevada's Delmas N'tcha on Saturday.
Conversely, fellow classmate Nicholas Mitchell (Ojai, Calif.) was not as fortunate in his Flight C opener against Nevada's Benjamin Campi, who erased an early deficit to prevail in three sets, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2. As a result, he SDSU junior will lock horns San Francisco's David Woodland in the consolation semifinals on Saturday.
In earlier Flight B doubles action, however, Mitchell combined with Kirchhoff to pin an 8-6 defeat on the Saint Mary's duo of Reckow and Brian Lee, advancing to the Saturday's semifinals, where they will engage the San Francisco tandem of Ricklis and Ryan Marker.
On the flip side, Restifo and Gonzalez Almazan were upended in their Flight A opener, falling to USF's Paul Giraud and Phuc Huynh, 8-6, which set up a date with Fresno State's Cem Erturk and Patrik Pech in the consolation semifinals.
The Bulldog Classic continues on Saturday at Spalding G. Wathen Tennis Center with doubles play starting at 8:30 a.m. to be followed by singles matches.
Bulldog Classic
Nov. 2, 2018
Spalding G. Wathen Tennis Center
Fresno, Calif.
SDSU Results Only
Singles – Flight A First Round
Jan Kirchhoff (SDSU) def. Mitchell Iwahiro (UCD), 6-2, 6-4
Arnaud Restifo (SDSU) def. Jeremy Merville (NEV), 6-2, 6-3
Singles – Flight B First Round
Rafael Gonzalez Almazan (SDSU) def. Boris Reckow (SMC), 6-4, 6-2
Singles – Flight C First Round
Benjamin Campi (NEV) def. Nicholas Mitchell (SDSU), 3-6, 6-4, 6-2
Doubles – Flight A First Round
Paul Giraud/Phuc Huynh (USF) def. Rafael Gonzalez Almazan/Arnaud Restifo (SDSU), 8-3
Doubles – Flight B First Round
Jan Kirchhoff/Nicholas Mitchell (SDSU) def. Brian Lee/Boris Reckow (SMC), 8-6
Three Aztecs Post Singles Wins on Day One in Fresno
