TUCSON, Ariz. –The Wildcats made a statement on day one of the Napa Valley Collegiate Invitational on Friday as they won all four singles matches and took one of two in doubles.
Mario Urquidi, Naoki Takeda, Sumeet Shinde, and Kieren Thompson were all victorious in singles, and only one match needed a third set to be decided.
“The guys played with conviction today,” said head coach Tad Berkowitz. “All four of them played with a purpose and we will look to build on this as we continue tomorrow.”
Urquidi started his senior year strong, needing just two sets to defeat Oklahoma State's Nathan Roper, 6-3, 6-4. In similar fashion, Takeda beat Vasilios Caripi 7-5, 6-3 and Shinde outplayed Trevor Horstmann 6-3, 6-3, with both opponents also representing Oklahoma State.
Thompson faced some adversity midway through his match, but put together a decisive third set to defeat Lucas Gerch of Oklahoma State 6-4, 2-6, 6-1.
Arizona split their doubles matches, with both opponents representing Fresno State. Takeda and Urquidi defeated Adriaan DuToit and Ethan Lopez 8-5, while Thompson and Shinde fell in their match against Felipe Fritz and John Darmstaedter, 5-8.
Day two of the tournament continues on Saturday, as the same group of Wildcats will face off in singles against athletes from UNLV, while the two doubles matches will be played against duos from USF and UNLV.
Friday Results:
Fritz/Darmstaedter (FS) def. Thompson/Shinde (UA) 8-5
Takeda/Urquidi (UA) def. Du Toit/Lopez (FS) 8-5
Kieren Thompson (UA) def. Lucas Gerch (OSU) 6-4, 2-6, 6-1
Naoki Takeda (UA) def. Vasili Caripi (OSU) 7-5, 6-3
Sumeet Shinde (UA) def. Trevor Horstmann (OSU) 6-3, 6-3
Mario Urquidi (UA) def. Nathan Roper (OSU) 6-3, 6-4
Saturday Schedule:
USF Saraiva/Skajaa vs UA Thompson/Shinde
USF Bahri/Takemoto vs UA Takeda/Urquidi
UA Thompson/Shinde vs UNLV Batyi/Sublette
UA Takeda/Urquidi vs UNLV Pume/Vongman
UA Kieren Thompson vs UNLV Tamas Batyi
UA Naoki Takeda vs UNLV Denys Pume
UA Sumeet Shinde vs UNLV Willie Sublette
UA Mario Urquidi vs UNLV Jeff Vongman
Sunday Schedule:
FS Phillipe Fritz vs UA Kieren Thompson
FS John Darmstaedter vs UA Naoki Takeda
FS Adriaan Du Toit vs UA Sumeet Shinde
FS Ethan Lopez vs UA Mario Urquidi
For continued coverage of Arizona men's tennis, visit ArizonaWildcats.com, follow @ArizonaMTennis on Twitter and Facebook at facebook.com/ArizonaMensTennis.
