SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State men's tennis duo of Judson Blair and Roni Rikkonen emerged victorious in doubles competition on Friday during the first wave of action at the SDSU Fall Invitational on the courts of Aztec Tennis Center.
Blair and Rikkonen joined forces to defeat the Loyola Marymount pairing of Rana-Roop Bhulla and Jose Dominguez Alonso in nail-biting fashion, 8-7(3).
However, the SDSU teammates were not as fortunate in singles play, dropping their respective matches to a pair of Arizona competitors.
Blair was upended by the Wildcats' Nick Lagaev, 6-4, 6-1, while Rikkonen ran out of steam in his first encounter of the season, falling in three sets to Jett Middleton, 5-7, 6-0, 6-2.
The SDSU Fall Invitational continues on Saturday when the Aztecs face UNLV in doubles at 9 a.m., followed by singles matches with Loyola Marymount. Admission to the event is free.
SDSU Fall Invitational
Day One Results
Oct. 15, 2021
Aztec Tennis Center—San Diego, Calif.
Doubles
Judson Blair/Roni Rikkonen (SDSU) def. Rana-Roop Bhullar/Jose Dominguez Alonso (LMU), 8-7(3)
John Bryan Otico/Ermin Torlic (LMU) def. Phillip Lan/William Lan (UCSD), 8-2
Jared Horwood/Nick Lagaev (Arizona) def. Zac Brodney/Tom Ciszewski (UNLV), 8-2
Jett Middleton/Conner Olsen (Arizona) def. Jack Hambrook/Thomas Navarro (UNLV), 8-3
Singles
Nick Lagaev (Arizona) def. Judson Blair (SDSU), 6-4, 6-1
Jett Middleton (Arizona) def. Roni Rikkonen (SDSU), 5-7, 6-0, 6-2
Conner Olsen (Arizona) def. Phillip Lan (UCSD), 6-1, 6-7(4), 6-1
Jared Horwood (Arizona) def. William Lan (UCSD), 6-0, 6-4
Rana-Roop Bhullar (LMU) def. Zac Brodney (UNLV), 6-4, 6-1
Jose Dominguez Alonso (LMU) def. Tom Ciszewski (UNLV), 6-2, 6-3
Ermin Torlic (LMU) def. Thomas Navarro (UNLV), 6-1, 6-4
John Bryan Otico (LMU) def. Jack Hambrook (UNLV), 6-0, 6-0