Hernandez Tong Wins ITA Mountain Regional Title
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Ask any Lobo men’s tennis player when the last time a Lobo won the ITA Mountain Regional singles championship and most could tell you in their sleep; 2003. Ricky Hernandez Tong, who lost in the 2017 regional final, certainly wanted another chance to change that date.
Mission accomplished.
Hernandez Tong capped off a brilliant week for the Lobos with the program’s first ITA Mountain Region singles title since Lobo legend Divan Koetzee took home the title. Hernandez Tong, the tournament’s No. 2 seed, swept away Nevada’s Julien Evrard in straight sets 7-6, 6-3 to win the title and lock up an automatic championship bid at the ITA Fall National Championships in Surprise, Arizona November 7-11. At that ITA Fall National Championships, Hernandez Tong will compete against fellow Regional champions from around the country in the pinnacle of the fall tennis season on the collegiate landscape.
The win was certainly the highlight, but it was just one of many as UNM put forth a strong showing at the 2018 ITA Regionals, hosted by UNLV. Along with Hernandez Tong, Dominic West and Stepan Holis all made the quarterfinals of the main draw, making New Mexico the only school to have multiple players reach the final eight. The Lobos were dominant on the singles court this week, going an incredible 13-4 in the main draw singles competition.
Along with Hernandez Tong’s win, both Dominic West and Stepan Holis did well to get to the quarterfinals, beating seeded opponents. Holis had the biggest ranked win, knocking off top-seeded Dan Little of Utah 6-4, 6-7, 6-4, in effect helping to clear the path for Hernandez Tong. West, who entered as the 15-seed, also knocked off a Pac-12 foe in the round of 32, winning in three.
“This has been a great week in Las Vegas for our team,” said head coach Ben Dunbar, “The freshman learned some big lessons and got a taste of regional competition and obviously to bring the title home to Albuquerque for the first time since 2003 is a special achievement for Ricky. He fell in the final last year and his drive to learn and build on his achievements from last year was evident in the tournament this year.”
Dunbar added of Hernandez Tong, “He is really starting to mature into a great leader and I know he will be excited to represent the Lobos out in Surprise at the fall national championships in a few weeks. I am pleased with the progress we are making as a team and I know the guys are excited to work even harder in the coming weeks so we can set ourselves up to have a very successful spring season.”
Singles wasn’t the only success for the Lobos and Hernandez Tong. Hernandez Tong and Holis came back from an opening round loss to with the backdraw doubles title, knocking off BYU to claim the consolation championship. After that opening round loss, Hernandez Tong and Holis reeled off four straight matches in the back draw to add to this week haul.
Results summary:
10/19
Final Singles: Ricky Hernandez Tong def Evrard (UNR) 7-6 6-3
10/18
Semifinal Singles: Ricky Hernandez Tong def Scarpelli (Idaho) 6-1 6-3
Doubles Consolation Final: Ricky Hernandez Tong/ Stepan Holis def Gajardo/Tullis(BYU) 8-6
10/17
Doubles Consolation: Nicolas Prieto/ Dominic West def Sanderson/ Sklenka (AFA) 8-2
Ricky Hernandez Tong/ Stepan Holis def Bucur/ Johnson 8-2
R16 Singles: Stepan Holis def Tullis (BYU) 6-2 7-6
Ricky Hernandez Tong def Van Wyk (Weber St) 6-2 6-3
Dominic West def Krulig (DU) 4-6 6-1 6-4
Quarterfinal Singles: (3) Sean Hill (BYU) def Dom West 5-7 6-3 6-0
(10) Julian Evrard (Nevada) def Stepan Holis 6-4 6-3
(2) Ricky Hernandez Tong def Djuro Opacic (Utah State) 6-4 6-3
Consolation Doubles: Ricky Hernandez Tong/ Stepan Holis def Perez/ Collins (AFA) 8-3
Gajardo/ Tullis (BYU) def Dom West/ Nicolas Prieto 8-4
10/16
R32 doubles: Davis/ Summers (DU) def Ricky Hernandez Tong/ Stepan Holis 8-6
Evrard/ Nesterenko (UNR) def Nicolas Prieto/ Dom West 8-2
R64 Singles: Karlo Divkovic def Kyle Pease (Northern Col) 6-4 6-4
(15) Dom West def Eric Samuelson (UNLV) 6-4 6-3
(2) Ricky Hernandez Tong def Russell Benkaim (Utah) 6-3 6-4
Stepan Holis def Augustin Tamagnone (SUU) 6-4 6-2
Drew Brown (Montana St) def Michael Tran 6-2 6-2
R32 Singles: Ollie Thestrup (UNLV) def Karlo Divkovic 6-3 6-3
Stepan Holis def (1) Dan Little (Utah) 6-4 6-7 6-4
(15) Dom West def Slava Shainyan (Utah) 3-6 6-4 6-1
(2) Ricky Hernandez Tong def Patrick Sklenka (AFA) 6-4 5-7 6-2
Backdraw Singles: Jeffrey Hsu (BYU) def Michael Tran 6-3 6-4
10/15
R32 Qualifying Singles: Bo Han Li (Weber St) def Nicolas Prieto 6-4 5-7 7-6
Michael Tran def Ron Idzon (NAU) 7-6 6-3
R32 Qualifying Doubles: Stenlund/ Arca Costa (Boise) def Tran/Divkovic 8-5
Hunyh/ Krulig (DU) def Tran/ Divkovic 8-7