SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State men's tennis team will play on The Mesa for the first time this season on Saturday, Jan. 21, starting at noon PT, with matches against the San Francisco Dons at the Aztec Tennis Center.
The Scarlet and Black (0-1) is looking to get in the win column after a 4-3 loss to Arkansas to open the dual season. Meanwhile, the Dons (1-1) split Thursday's season opening double header in America's Finest City, beating UC San Diego 4-1 and losing to Point Loma Nazarene 4-2.
San Diego State is looking to continue their winning ways against San Francisco as the Aztecs are 3-0 all time in this matchup. The last time they played was on February 17, 2019, when SDSU won a home match by the score of 4-3.
The first Aztec to double digit singles wins this season, Johannes Seeman opened his spring campaign in style with a 6-4, 6-3 win on the top court against Arkansas' Stefanos Savva. Seeman earned the first point of the day for the Scarlet and Black and was the lone San Diego State player to win his match in straight sets. The Estonia native won eight straight games to come back from down 4-1 in the first set to win it and jump out to a 3-0 lead in the second. His performance garnered Mountain West Player of the Week honors.
Playing on the No. 2 court, Chikaya Sato battled to a 7-5 win in the opening set before dropping the second 6-2. He was victorious in the third set, 6-3, to win his match against Arkansas' Adrien Burdet.
The winner of consecutive matches going back to the fall season, Eugenio Gonzalez Fitzmaurice made his collegiate dual-season debut against the Razorbacks. Similar to Sato, Gonzalez Fitzmaurice won the first set, fell in the second and fought to win the third in a 6-3, 0-6, 7-5 result. His triumph over Foster Rogers earned Gonzalez Fitzmaurice the first Mountain West Freshman of the Week award of the season and the first in SDSU history.
The Dons mark the beginning of a run of West Coast Conference matches for SDSU, which will take on Santa Clara, on Feb. 11, at the Aztec Tennis Center, before a trip to Los Angeles to face Loyola Marymount on Feb. 17. Since 1989, SDSU has gone 71-63 against WCC opponents.