SAN ANTONIO – Making its first appearance at the UTSA Tennis Center this season, the UTSA men’s tennis team (4-7) will host Mountain West foe No. 60 Utah State (8-1) on Friday and WAC opponent UT Arlington (5-4) on Sunday. The Roadrunners opened the season with 11 consecutive matches away from San Antonio and are kicking off a nine-match homestand that extends into mid-April.
Following this Week’s Matches
UTSA will open its home slate at 1 p.m. on Friday, March 1 at the UTSA Tennis Center. On Sunday, March 3, the Roadrunners will take the court against UT Arlington at 11 a.m.
There will be no live video from this week’s matches, but the Roadrunners will have live stats from both matches at the following links:
UTSA vs. Utah State
UTSA vs. UT Arlington
Last Time Out
UTSA fell in a pair of ranked 4-1 losses in South Florida to 63rd-ranked Miami and then 41st-ranked Florida Atlantic. In both matches, the Roadrunners had to battle back from a doubles point deficit, but couldn’t seal off three-set singles courts to notch more points on the board. Across the two matches, UTSA saw six singles outings go to a third set and four of those end unfinished at the clinching of the match. Notching wins last week on the singles courts, Tiago Torres came away with a 6-3, 7-6 (10-8) victory over Miami’s Martin Katz on court two and Jackson Ross downed FAU’s Mark Havlicek on court five, 6-4, 6-4. Leading the Roadrunners in scoring this season, Miguel Alonso opened the year with six consecutive wins between courts five/six and is 6-1. Playing largely on four, Danijal Muminovic is 5-4. Currently ranked 29th in the ITA, the doubles tandem of Alan Magadan and Tomás Pinho are 5-4 to lead UTSA doubles.
On the Slate this Week
Coming in at No. 60 in the latest ITA rankings, the Utah State Aggies are 8-1 heading into the weekend, continuing their rise under fifth-year head coach Aaron Paajanen. Last season, the Aggies went 12-13 at third in the regular season Mountain West standings, then toppled first UNLV and then top-seeded New Mexico to reach the MW final. They’ve won three straight after falling to Denver at home, 4-3. Leading the way for USU, junior Sergei Micó Fenollar and senior Steijn Paardekooper are both 6-1 on courts three and two, respectively. Freshman Stefan Vedovelli and fifth-year Bodin Zarkovic pace the doubles at 8-0, largely on two.
The UT Arlington Mavericks are led by 18th-year head coach Diego Benitez and enter the weekend at 5-4, winning two straight, including a 4-1 home victory over Texas Tech. Last season, UTA was 16-8 and reached the NCAAs after winning both the WAC regular season and tournament titles. While Joan Torres Espinosa is perfect on the top court with a 5-0 record this spring, sophomore Dante Teramo leads the team in wins with a 6-2 record, mixed between the top three flights. Torres Espinosa and Teramo are 4-1 to lead doubles, mostly on the top court.
Series Against the Opposition
UTSA and Utah State will meet for the first time since 2019 and the fifth time overall. USU leads the series 3-1, giving up their only loss in the sole contest played in San Antonio, late in the 2013 season.
UT Arlington and UTSA have a storied past in men’s tennis, meeting 46 times between 1987 and 2023 and renewing the series for the seventh time in the last eight years. UTSA trails in the series 16-30 but have won the last three meetings, including the 4-3 victory on Feb. 11, 2023 in Arlington.
Up Next
More work at home for the Roadrunners, as UTSA plays a single match at home – hosting Kennesaw State on Friday, March 8, at UTSA Tennis Center.
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