Derrick Tuskan, Photo Editor

The San Diego State men’s tennis team should be seeing double right now.

It just faced three ranked doubles tandems Friday and Saturday against Utah and Air Force in Las Vegas to open Mountain West Conference play.

SDSU started with, fittingly, a pair of upsets to open MWC play.

And the reason the Aztecs won those two games?

You guessed it: superb doubles play.

“We played very good doubles,” head coach Gene Carswell said. “We just played our game. It was just good, all-around tennis.”

Senior Benedikt Stronk and junior Markus Dickhardt pulled off an improbable victory against the No. 26 team in the nation Friday, helping SDSU upset the Utes, 6-1.

“(Stronk and Dickhardt) kept fighting,” sophomore Robert Sabo said. “They kept hanging in there. That’s the type of stuff we need. Those guys played some of the best doubles tennis I’ve seen so far at (SDSU).”

Dickhardt, however, was humble about his performance.

“It definitely wasn’t my best tennis,” Dickhardt said. “I didn’t even know (Utah’s doubles team) was ranked.”

Dickhardt said that the doubles win gave SDSU (9-6) momentum heading into singles play.

“The key for the team now is winning the doubles point,” he said. “That’s very important.”

SDSU also beat the No. 52 doubles team in the country Saturday, as the Aztecs shut out Air Force, 7-0. Junior Christian Groh won his sixth straight singles match.

“(Groh) has been competing hard,” Carswell said. “If anyone is playing some star tennis, it’s him. (Saturday) he handled himself pretty well.”

Sabo had strong play at the bottom positions, winning both his singles matches against Utah and Air Force. Sabo has won five of his last six singles matches.

Carswell has been stressing all season long how crucial it is for the players playing at the bottom positions to step up.

“Robert’s a competitor, and he’s been doing a very good job for us,” Carswell said. “I think the team’s coming together nicely.”

Added Sabo: “I’ve been hitting the ball pretty good. Right now my game is only getting better. I’m at a great (point). I’m kind of in a little zone.”

Sabo feels SDSU is the most united it’s been all season.

“In the last few days, I’ve seen a huge commitment,” Sabo said. “Everyone is cheering each other on. Everybody is just so pumped up.”