SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State men's tennis team returns to action this weekend when it heads across town to compete in the 132nd edition of the Pacific Coast Doubles Championships, March 3-6, at La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club.
In addition, the Aztecs will play host to No. 23 Utah in a non-conference dual match on Sunday, March 6, starting at 10 a.m. PT.
SDSU will send four tandems to La Jolla, including the duo of Johannes Seeman and Victor Castro, who garnered all-Mountain West accolades in 2021 and received one of the No. 9 seeds in this week's prestigious event, along with the pairing of Roni Rikkonen and Andre Saleh. A transfer from Nebraska, Saleh joined the Aztecs during the semester break but is inactive for the team's dual-match schedule this spring.
In addition, the newly minted combo of Joe Tyler and Alexander Mandma will join forces once again, while Judson Blair continues his pairing with Jules Auffray.
Blair and Auffray will open the tournament on Thursday when they battle Jack Kite and Eddie Ross of No. 41 SMU in the round of 128, beginning at 4 p.m., while Mandma and Tyler are slated to engage the Villanova duo of William Gatti and Ryan Nguyen at the same time.
On Friday morning, Castro and Seeman will square off against another Villanova tandem in Matthew Jones and Joshua Robinson, starting at 8 a.m., while Rikkonen and Saleh are set to face Boston College's Shreekar Eedara and Connor McDonald at 9:40 a.m.
The second-oldest tennis event in the United States, the Pacific Coast Men's Doubles Championships feature tandems from several college programs, including nationally ranked teams in No. 8 Stanford, No. 10 USC, No. 19 Pepperdine, No. 38 California and No. 59 UCLA.
In addition to the Aztecs and their aforementioned opponents, the field includes competitors from such schools as Ball State, Cal Lutheran, Pomona-Pitzer, San Diego Christian, UC San Diego and UNLV, among others.
Past winners include such notables as Jack Kramer, Ted Schroeder, Bobby Riggs, Pancho Segura, Don Budge, Tony Trabert, Stan Smith, Bob Lutz, Arthur Ashe, Dennis Ralston, John McEnroe and many other world-class champions.
On Sunday, San Diego will battle a Utah squad that received a No. 23 ranking in the latest ITA poll. The Utes boast an unblemished 14-0 mark in dual-match competition, highlighted by six shutouts, including four straight vs. Nevada (Feb. 13), Drake (Feb. 20), Montana State (Feb. 20) and Weber State (Feb. 26).
In addition to its whitewash of Nevada, Utah has defeated two other Mountain West squads this spring, including a 6-1 triumph at New Mexico (Jan. 23) and a 4-2 conquest of Boise State at home (Feb. 13).
Since 1989, the Aztecs own an 18-13 record against the Utes, including a 14-1 mark when Utah was a member of the Mountain West from 2000-11. The two teams met in Salt Lake City last spring, where SDSU fell short by a 5-2 count, snapping its six-match winning streak in the series. Castro and Blair recorded the Scarlet and Black's two singles victories in that encounter at the No. 2 and No. 6 positions, respectively.
Individually, Utah sports three players with double-digit singles victories this spring, led by Franco Capalbo (13-0), Geronimo Espin Busleiman (12-0) and Francisco Bastias (11-1). Capalbo and Bastias have played exclusively at the top two positions on the Utes' ladder, respectively, while Espin Busleiman has seen the bulk of his action primarily at No. 3.
In doubles, Capalbo and Espin Busleiman have maintained a spotless 12-0 record in dual matches thus far alternating between the top two spots in Utah's rotation along with Bastias and Bruno Caula, who have compiled a 9-2 mark.
SDSU (3-5) came away with a doubleheader split in its last two dual matches at home on Feb. 26, dropping a narrow 4-3 decision to No. 46 Gonzaga before rebounding with a 6-1 rout of Pomona-Pitzer, which put the brakes on a four-match slide.
The Aztecs have been paced by Tyler, who posted a combine 4-0 record in both doubles and singles vs. the Bulldogs and the Sagehens, earning Mountain West Player of the Week honors for the second time in less than a month. The SDSU senior is 12-5 for the year, boasting a 6-1 record in dual-match competition.
Tyler also sports an identical 12-5 record in doubles, including a 10-5 mark with Castro and a 2-0 ledger with Mandma.
Not to be outdone, Blair pocketed two singles victories against Gonzaga and Pomona-Pitzer to even his record at 10-10 for the year.
Following Sunday's clash with the Utes, San Diego State returns to the courts next weekend when it welcomes Penn and Air Force to Aztec Tennis Center for a pair of dual matches on March 12 and 13, respectively.
Aztecs Prepped for Busy Weekend
