Lobos Open Season Hosting Jack Kennedy Classic
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — That Jack Kennedy got to hand out the trophy at the inaugural tournament that bears his name holds great memories for all that were able to watch New Mexico sweep UT Arlington and Gonzaga last year in the inaugural Jack Kennedy Classic. While Jack is sadly no longer with us, having passed away in November just a few short months ago, the tournament that bears his name will live on, as UNM hosts the 2nd Annual Jack Kennedy Classic this weekend, starting Friday as the Lobos host Cal Poly at 3 p.m. at McKinnon Family Tennis Stadium.
The tournament will continue on Saturday with Cal Poly and East Tennessee State facing each other at 2 p.m., and Sunday will see the conclusion with UNM and East Tennessee State playing at noon. At the conclusion, members of the Kennedy family will be on hand to present the winner’s trophy. Sunday is also Campus Kids Day with free pizza while it lasts.
The Lobos are coming off a successful fall season in which the squad went 58-30 in singles and 16-15 in doubles. UNM is now legit 10-deep in the roster and every match, and really every practice, will be important to see who and how the lineups are set. Regardless, fans should expect returning Mountain West Player of the Year Arda Azkara to look to continue as the unquestioned No. 1 player for UNM. Ankara, currently ranked No. 122 nationally, has never lost a home match at No. 1 single in his two-year career and he went 5-2 in singles matches in the fall. That record doesn’t count his four trips to play in M-15 events, where he made it to at least the quarterfinal or semifinal round in those tournaments.
Returning all-conference singles honoree Aram Noroozian is back after a 7-2 fall campaign, and Georgio Samaha, who led UNM with 25 singles wins a year ago, will bring an 8-2 record to the table from the fall.
Alex Maggs, who partnered with Azkara for doubles All-Mountain West honors, has been on a two-year heater in singles, going 18-5 since the beginning of last year. Also returning is Rafael Abdulsalam, who like Maggs is a four-year letterwinner back for their COVID super senior seasons. Rafael played at No. 2 last year and went a solid 7-3 in the fall. Ryomo Matsushita returns for his senior season, and Daniil Kakhniuk is back from injury to give UNM seven returners.
So what did head coach Chris Russell and assistant Sonam Phuntsok do? Well, they certainly didn’t spend the recruiting season patting themselves on the back. They instead added three newcomers in senior Arthur Bellegy who was one of the NAIA’s top players last year, and a pair of freshmen in Avery Tallakson and Nicolas Recoura. All Bellegy did was go 9-2 to lead the team in wins in the fall, Recoura went 6-3, and Tallakson 5-5.
Cal Poly’s match with UNM will be its first of the season, and ETSU, which features the nation’s No. 55 doubles team, lost 6-0 to Vanderbilt to open the season. Cal Poly went 7-12 a year ago, and ETSU went 12-14.