ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — In a match where UNM was seemingly behind from the onset, the Lobos couldn’t take advantage of a late chance to steal the opener, falling 4-3 to Cal Poly in the opening match of the Second Annual Jack Kennedy Classic. The Mustangs (1-0) can take home the title with a win over East Tennessee State tomorrow at 2 p.m. at McKinnon Family Tennis Stadium.
It was ultimately a frustrating late afternoon and early evening for the Lobos, who were coming off a hot fall campaign and a 15-6 season a year ago, but UNM never did get out of the gate on the day. UNM lost the doubles point 2-1, taking the first half, but UNM was trailing most of the way in the other two matches. Freshman Nicolas Recoura teamed with Georgio Samaha for a 6-3 win at No. 2 doubles, but that was all UNM could get. Cal Poly’s No. 1 team of Colter Smith and Bastiaan Weststrate was able to serve out a 6-4 win over Arda Azkara and Alex Maggs, and then Raz Haviv and Seam Kamyshev won 6-4 over Ryoma Matsushita and Avery Tallakson for the doubles point.
From there, UNM was constantly playing catch-up. The Lobos and Aram Noroozian needed just eight points to get a win as at 30-30, Noroozian sent Fernando Fonseca tumbling backward in the backcourt, and Fonseca needed medical attention. He forfeited the opening game when his medical timeout went over five minutes, and then he just couldn’t go in the second game, so the match was tied at 1-1, much to the chagrin of Noroozian, who was looking forward to playing at home with his parents in from Canada for the weekend.
Still needing three more singles wins, UNM fell way behind as only Azkara at No. 1 and Maggs at No. 6 singles won their opening sets. Arthur Bellegy, the lone newcomer in the singles lineup for UNM, could never get it going in his match against Smith, falling behind 5-1 early. Bellegy would eventually lose 6-3, 6-2 to make it 2-1 Cal Poly.
Playing at home, the one thing you can count on is Azkara winning at No. 1 singles. Now a junior, the reigning Mountain West Player of the Year remained unbeaten at No. 1 singles at home, winning 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), pushing everything back to 2-2.
While Maggs won his first set, Samaha missed a golden opportunity in his opening set. Down 5-4 and even at 30-30, his mishit a return by Haviv that was going wide, putting it into the net. That gave Haviv the point, and two points later Haviv won the opening set 6-4. Rafael Abdulsalam had an odd opening set with Weststrate, as seven of the nine opening set games went to deuce, with Weststrate taking five of those, including back-to-back breaks for a 6-3 win.
That meant UNM would need a comeback, and after Abdulsalam fell 6-3, 6-3, UNM needed Maggs to hold on a Samaha to make a comeback. Only one happened though. Samaha bounced back with a 6-4 win in his second set to counter Kamyshev’s 6-4 win over Maggs as both went to a third set.
Behind all day, UNM suddenly found themselves in the driver’s seat when Maggs broke Kamyshev at 1-1, and then held, giving him a 3-1 lead while Samaha went up 5-1. UNM couldn’t hold on, however. Samaha was broken on his final twice in a row Haviv tied it at 5-5, and Maggs was broken at 3-2 and 3-4, putting Kamyshev in the driver’s seat.
Down 5-3 with Kaymshev serving as Samaha went to a tiebreaker in which he took a commanding lead, Maggs needed to break, and a lucky break. He got it, down 30-love, Kamyshev put a ball into Maggs’s feet but behind him, and somehow, Maggs contorted himself, and his racquet and his spinning return miraculously stayed in. Kamyshev returned it, Maggs followed and Kamyshev hit wide to keep Maggs in it. He tied it with a wicked cross-court forehand as Samaha took a 5-1 lead in his tiebreak.
However, Maggs counted to complete his comeback, losing the final two points when his volley hit the net cord and stayed on his side, giving Kamyshev the win just seconds before Samaha completed his comeback with a 7-2 win.
Cal Poly can win the Jack Kennedy Classic with a win against East Tennessee State on Sunday. If ETSU wins, that would mean the win by Samaha could be the difference in potential tiebreaker scenarios as UNM could still win the title based on the total matches won. Cal Poly and ETSU play at 2 p.m. Saturday and UNM hosts East Tennessee State at noon on Sunday, all at McKinnon. Sunday is also Campus Kids Day.
NOTES: Azkara is now 19-0 in his home career at No. 1 singles … Samaha is now tied with Bellegy for the team lead in singles wins with nine … UNM for the year is just 17-17 in doubles, but 61-33 in singles … Cal Poly evened the all-time series at 5-5 … UNM has lost its season-opener in two of the last three seasons.
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