Doubles duo sophomores Jan Kirchhoff and Ignacio Martinez were stormed by their Aztec teammates, after the pair won the deciding doubles match, 7-6, to win the point and give San Diego State men’s tennis the win over University of San Francisco on Sunday Afternoon at the Aztec Tennis Center.
Traditionally, the doubles matches are played first, but due to the threat of rain, the teams decided to play the singles matches first, as it is possible to win the game with four singles victories.
“It was a step in the right direction today and what a way to get it with the match knotted up at three all,” head coach Gene Carswell said. “Mother nature cooperated and a gave us a winner to play doubles.”
“We’re just so happy right now to get this win in really tough conditions out there,” senior captain Sander Gjoels-Andersen said. “I could really feel it in my singles match.”
The Aztecs found themselves down 0-1 to start the match, with junior Fabian Roensdorf unable to find his rhythm during a 0-6, 3-6 loss on court one. Roensdorf was visibly frustrated, but his frowns turned to smiles and cheers as his fellow teammates began to pick up their rhythm.
Junior Arnaud Restifo was able to win 7-5, 6-4 on court six to balance the score at 1-1,
Junior Rafael Gonzalez Almazan won his match on court five in three sets (6-3, 4-6, 6-3) to give SDSU a 2-1 lead.
Andersen found himself in a tough two sets on court two, and wasn’t able to pull out some magic as he lost in two intense sets (6-7, 6-7).
With the score 2-2, Kirchhoff was able to fend off USF’s Romeo Midtgaard Jivaj in three sets on court four (6-1, 3-6, 6-3) to give SDSU a 3-2 lead.
All eyes were on court three to see if the Aztecs would be able to go home without playing the doubles match.
Martinez fought hard, but he wasn’t able to pick it up during the third set (4-6, 7-6, 0-6), and the match was officially heading to doubles.
The doubles matches did not start according to plan, after junior Nicholas Mitchell and freshman Gavin Spencer lost their match on court two (2-6).
Meanwhile, on court one, the pair of Andersen and Gonzalez emphatically won their match 6-3.
The fate of the whole match rested on court three, where Kirchhoff and Martinez appeared hungry for the win.
“It’s not about tennis anymore,” Kirchhoff said. “It’s about who is the better competitor and who is the bigger team.”
Both pairs fought hard, and the match came to the score of 6-6. With the game resting on the next point, Kirchhoff and Martinez were able to pull it off and win the doubles point, and concurrently the game.
“I’m happy that we stuck together as a team… it was a real important win,” Andersen said. “We’re going on an important road trip next week, it’s nice to get some confidence, I think it’s going to be two very close matches. ”
The win ends the Aztecs six game home stand and gives them a 3-3 record on the season. The team will now hit the road for for a back-to-back against Washington and Portland on Feb. 22 and Feb. 23.
“It’s going to be very competitive, we got to be on our game if we’re going to come home with a couple road victories,” Carswell said. “My hats are out to these guys because I thought they fought really hard and it’s a good team victory.”
