This week has been very busy for University of Utah tennis. During the week, there have been several tournaments our players have been partaking in. The 2023 Cal invitational included several of Utah women’s players and ran from Sept. 29 through Oct. 1. The ITA Regional competition had many of our men’s team competing as well, which went from Sept. 28 through Oct. 2. Lastly, the ITA All-American Championship included two of our women’s players and went from Sept. 30 to Oct. 8.
Cal Invitational
Starting things off with the Cal Invitational, there were two Utes who partook in the singles competition. Freshman Emma Kamper was able to secure a set win but was unable to win her game. Freshman Isabella Pitchford was also unfortunately unable to win her first game as well.
In the doubles competition, Kamper and freshman Sara Akid secured an 8-3 win in the first round. Just hours later, they secured another dominant 8-2 win. The next day they lost in the semifinals 3-8. Overall, it was still a solid performance for the two freshmen.
ITA Regionals
The men’s ITA Regionals featured many Utah players. In the singles matches, senior Geronimo Espin Busleiman was able to power through two rounds, with close wins in the first with 6-4 and 6-2, then 6-3 and 7-5 in the second. He had lost in the third with close games of both 5-7. Fellow senior Bruno Krenn also was able to win two rounds, first some close games of 7-6 and 7-5, then 6-4 and 6-3. Krenn lost with one set win of 6-4, and losses of 3-6 and 0-6.
In doubles, Buseliman and sophomore Berk Bugarikj were very dominant throughout their games. They had won their first game 5-1 against a duo from Air Force and then won 8-4 against an Arizona duo. They then won in the third round to get a spot within the ITA nationals with a grueling game of very close scores of 7-6 (7-3), 7-5 and 10-6 to a well-stacked Montana duo. They were able to compete in the final, but couldn’t find the win, still securing that national spot.
The duo of Micheal Blando and Jayson Blando were able to go all the way to the quarterfinals as well. They had beaten a UNLV duo 8-2 and beat a NAU duo 8-5 before a 6-8 loss in the quarterfinal would end their day.
ITA All-American Championship
Two Utes had the chance to show off their skills at the ITA All-American championship, which was hosted in Cary, North Carolina. Sophomore Marcela Lopez made it to the second round, winning 7-6 in both sets in the first, before losing in the second. In doubles play, Lopez and fellow sophomore Kaila Barksdale fell in the first round 8-3.
Overall, it was a busy week for Utes tennis, with lots of more tennis to come for both teams. Women will host ITA Regionals in Salt Lake from Oct 18-22. Men will travel to San Diego to compete in ITA Fall Nationals from Nov. 1-5.