The San Diego State’s men’s tennis team finally kicked of its season at home last weekend as it hosted the Aztec Invitational. Powerhouse schools such as the University of Southern California and UCLA among others showed up at the Aztec Tennis Center to square off in this three-day event.
The Aztecs, in their first tournament of the season, have to be pleased with the outcomes of their performance. Nobody had a better weekend than senior Juan Florez, however.
Florez, a native of Bogota, Colombia, ended his weekend by winning the Flight 3 singles championship after defeating senior Daniel Simko of Loyola Marymount University, 6-4 and 6-3. After having a modest junior year going 12-11 in singles matches last dual season, Florez is on a tear to begin his final fall season with the Aztecs, going 3-0.
The Aztecs also made some noise in the doubles section of the tournament. While they weren’t able to come away with the championship, the combination of sophomore Marvin Tawasi and freshman Milen Ianakiev, both natives of Germany, were able to win the consolation bracket championship by defeating the University of the Pacific’s team of freshman Miguel Diaz and junior Denis Stolyarov by a score of 8-5.
While the Aztecs played exceptionally in their first tourney of the season, no team played better this weekend than USC. The freshman doubles team of Robbie Bellamy and Nick Crystal were able to come away with the doubles draw championship in their first collegiate tournament together.
To go along with that, Bellamy also came away with the Flight One singles championship, making it a stellar debut for his college career.
Although this was SDSU’s first tournament of the season, two of its members, junior Thorsten Bertsch and senior Hunter Nicholas, had already competed in the ITA Men’s All-American tournament earlier this month in Tulsa, Okla.
Nicholas and Bertsch were both eliminated in the second round of singles play, but they still brought the team exposure in a national tournament. The All-Mountain West doubles team would go on to lose in the ITA All-American Main Doubles Draw as well.
Beginning today, SDSU will travel north San Francisco where it will play in the Battle in the Bay Classic tournament through Sunday. Coming off a fairly successful weekend in their first play of the season, this young and diverse team, will look to prove themselves in this tournament.
If Florez can improve on his successful outing and Bertsch and Nicholas emerge to their usual play, the Aztecs could end up being the tournament’s most victorious team.
Photo by Jonathan Bonpua, Staff Photographer
