Lobos Host ITA Mountain Regional Men's Tennis Championships
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Just 10 days after hosting one of the biggest events in the short history of McKinnon Family Tennis Stadium, The University of New Mexico will play host to 15 teams from around the Mountain Region, stretching from Idaho and Montana to Arizona and New Mexico as the Lobos host the ITA Mountain Region Men’s Tennis Championships, Thursday through Monday, October 13-17. The event is free to the public.
Fans should know that parking will be tricky on Saturday as there is a full slate of events around the complex with the Zia Band Festival taking place at University Stadium, softball hosting a Fall game, women’s basketball hosting its Cherry-Silver game at 10 am and the New Mexico United playing its final game of the season at Isotopes Park across the street. Fans coming for tennis should expect lines into certain parking lots, but parking for tennis fans is free.
The tournament will actually take place at both McKinnon Family Tennis Stadium and the Lobo Tennis Center. The tournament will feature 15 teams in a straight tournament format with a 64-man main singles ITA draw and a 26-man Flight B Lobo draw. Doubles will feature a 32-team main singles ITA draw and an 11-team Flight B Lobo draw. The top two out of each of the main draws in singles and doubles will advance to the ITA Fall National Championships in San Diego.
The ITA Mountain Regional is one of 12 regional championships being played over the weekend. There are also 12 on the women’s side, which started today around the country.
For the Lobos in the main singles draw, Aram Noroozian will play at 8:30 am at McKinnon against Idaho State’s Victor Sklenka. Ryo Matsushita will play at 11:30 against the No. 8 seed, Patrik Trhac of Utah. Also at 11:30, Rafael Abdul Salam will face off with Roko Stipetic of New Mexico State, with both of those matches at McKinnon.
Jan Pucalka will face Utah State’s Stijn Paardekooper at 1 pm at McKinnon, and UNM’s final main draw singles match will be at 2:30 pm when Georgio Samaha faces Montana’s Guillermo Martin.
In the Lobo Flight B draw, Alexander Maggs earned a bye into the Round of 16, where he will play at 12:15 pm at the Lobo Tennis Center against either Henrik Lynum of New Mexico State or Phillip Deaton of Air Force.
Daniil Kakhnuil will play Hiroki Fujita of Idaho State at the Lobo Tennis Center at 11 am.
Arda Azkara was originally seeded sixth, but he withdrew due to injury.
In doubles, Pucalka and Maggs earned a four-seed after winning the USTA M15 event in Albuquerque last week. They will open at McKinnon on Friday at 9:15 against Denver’s Anish Sriniketh and Mitchell Johnson. Abdul Salam and Samaha, who advanced to the semifinals after beating the top seed last week, will also play at 9:15 Friday against Jacob Huppin and Max Relic of Montana State.
Kakhniuk and Noroozian will take on NAU’s Dominik Buzonics and Alexander Groves at 10 am on Friday.