SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State men's tennis team opens a lengthy homestand this week when it plays host to Fresno State, Nevada and Santa Clara over a four-day stretch at Aztec Tennis Center.
The Aztecs will battle the Bulldogs on Friday, April 16 at 2 p.m. PT, followed by a clash with the Wolf Pack on Sunday, April 18 at noon, before locking horns with the Broncos in a non-conference match on Monday, April 19 with another 2 p.m. start.
Ironically, SDSU played the same three teams on consecutive days at home, April 5-7, 2019. The Aztecs dropped a 4-3 heartbreaker to Fresno State before regrouping with wins over Nevada (4-0) and Santa Clara (4-1).
SDSU (3-11, 0-4 MW) will be looking to put the brakes on a five-match losing streak after suffering a pair of road losses to Air Force and New Mexico last week. Against the Falcons on April 9, the Aztecs claimed their sixth doubles point of the year but could not carry that success into singles, where they fell in all four completed singles matches.
Two days later at first-place New Mexico, SDSU was stymied for much of the day, mustering just one victory at No. 3 doubles where the tandem of Aaron Pollanen and Rafael Gonzalez Almazan toppled the Lobo duo of Stepan Holis and Alex Maggs, 6-4.
The Aztecs' No. 1 pairing of Johannes Seeman and Victor Castro had their five-match winning streak halted at UNM, slipping to 6-2 on the year, while the No. 2 combo of Ignacio Martinez and Judson Blair sit at 4-4 overall.
Seeman is the Scarlet and Black's top singles winner thus far, posting a 7-5 record at the No. 1 position, while Castro, Blair and Roni Rikkonen have collected three victories apiece. Castro has spent time in three different spots at No. 2, 4, 5 on the Aztecs' ladder, while Blair and Rikkonen have each seen action in the fourth, fifth and sixth positions.
Friday's opponent Fresno State (14-3, 3-1 MW) has won 12 of its last 13 matches, capped by a 4-0 home victory over Boise State on April 11. The Bulldogs' only loss during that stretch was a 4-1 setback at New Mexico on April 1.
Fresno State boasts three players with double-digit singles victories this spring, led by Angus Bradshaw, who has compiled a 13-2 overall record, highlighted by an 8-4 mark in the No. 3 position and a 4-0 ledger in the fourth slot. In addition, Aleksandr Myagkov has fashioned an 11-2 record this spring at four different positions, highlighted by a 7-1 mark at No. 4, while Dario Huber is 10-2 playing exclusively in the second position. Not to be outdone, 2019 MW Player of the Year Zdenek Derkas is 9-4 at the top of the Bulldogs' ladder.
In doubles play, Derkas and Huber have amassed a 6-3 record this season seeing most of their action in the No. 2 spot, while Bradshaw and Myagkov are 5-7 playing primarily at the No. 1 position.
Fresno State has won five straight against San Diego State to grab a 16-10 lead in the series dating back to 1989. The two teams last faced one another in the finals of the Mountain West Championship on April 27, 2019, on the Bulldogs' home courts. The fourth-seeded Aztecs won the doubles point, but No. 3 seed Fresno State captured the four of five completed singles matches to deny the Scarlet and Black a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Like the Aztecs, Nevada (5-9, 1-3 MW) is in the midst of an extended losing skid, dropping four straight, including three consecutive shutouts. The Wolf Pack are coming off a 4-0 home whitewash at the hands of Boise State on April 11. Prior to its visit to "America's Finest City", Nevada will travel to Sin City to battle UNLV on Friday.
The Wolf Pack's No. 1 doubles tandem of Juan Batalla and Isaac Nortay have racked up an 8-3 record this spring, with both players pocketing three wins apiece in singles play, along with Ambroise Marchand and Daniel Dudockin.
Nevada's top singles winner so far this season is Satchel Benn, who has not played in the last two matches but has five victories to his credit, including a 3-0 mark at No. 4. In addition, Delmas N'Tcha has collected two wins each in the top two positions.
San Diego State is 10-3 against the Wolf Pack all-time, including a 4-0 shutout in the last meeting between the two squads at Aztec Tennis Center in 2019. Martinez was a double winner for the Scarlet and Black in that match, emerging triumphant at No. 1 doubles and No. 4 singles.
Entering the weekend, Santa Clara sports a 6-6 overall record and a 3-3 mark in the West Coast Conference. Prior to Monday's encounter, the Broncos will square off against WCC rival San Diego on April 18.
Arthur Neuhaus has been SCU's biggest winner this spring, posting an 8-4 singles record rotating between the third, fourth and fifth spots on the Broncos' ladder. In addition, Dominic Barretto, Guillaume Dalmasso and Santiago Hinojosa have each recorded six victories. Baretto has alternated between the top three positions; Dalmasso has seen action in the second, third and fourth slots, while Hinojosa has compiled a 4-4 record at No. 6 and a 2-0 mark at No. 5.
In doubles, Neuhaus has teamed with Vasileios Illiopoulous for a 4-3 record at the top of the rotation, while the tandem of Baretto and Dalmasso are 3-2 in the second spot.
The Aztecs own a 6-2 advantage in the all-time series vs. the Broncos, including a 4-1 triumph in the last meeting between the two squads in 2019. Gonzalez Almazan and Martinez are the lone SDSU holdovers with victories in that match. Martinez came through with a triumph in the No. 4 singles position, while Gonzalez Alamzan provided the clinching point after winning a tiebreaker in the third set over Hinojosa.
The Scarlet and Black also captured the doubles point in that encounter, as Gonzalez Almazan joined forced with former teammate Jan Kirchhoff for a 6-4 triumph in the No. 2 position, while Martinez combined with ex-Aztec Sander Gjoels-Andersen for an identical 6-4 decision at the top of the rotation.
Following this week's matches, San Diego State returns to the court on Saturday, April 25, when it squares off against UNLV in a Mountain West showdown, starting at noon PT.