The UA men's and women's tennis teams both faced Utah Friday afternoon, and the path to completion for both matches was eerily similar — albeit taking place a two-hour plane flight (or 12-hour car trek) apart.
In a match that came down literally to the final point, of the final game, of the final match of the day between the Pac-12's two leading teams so far this season, No. 27 Utah defeated the No. 14 Arizona men's tennis team, 4-3, in Salt Lake City. With the victory, the Utes leapfrog the Wildcats, if only ever-so-slightly, for first place in the conference race.
After the host Utes (19-3, 4-1 Pac-12) took the doubles point, Arizona had set itself up for victory in singles play in a number of ways. The Wildcats' Jay Friend (6-3 (6-5), 7-6), Gustaf Strom (6-4, 6-4) and Jonas Ziverts (7-5, 7-5) were the only three singles players for either team to win in straight sets, giving Arizona the 3-1 team lead. But all three remaining matches went the distance, with Utah's Patrick Trhac defeating Arizona's Dominique Rolland 7-6 in a third set, and the Utes' Franco Capalbo doing the exact same to Colton Smith.
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Arizona fell to 19-5 overall and 5-2 in Pac-12 play. That extra loss, for now at least, gives Utah the upper hand, even though the defending conference champion Wildcats have an extra conference win.
The Arizona men's team's regular-season finale comes next week in Tempe when the Wildcats take on ASU April 22 at 6 p.m.
On the UA campus, it was nearly the same story between visiting No. 48 Utah and the No. 51 Wildcats — but, well, not.
Arizona's Midori Castillo-Meza wins on match point for her UA team in a 4-3 victory for the UA over visiting Utah Friday, April 14, 2023, at LaNelle Robson Tennis Center. Video courtesy Arizona Athletics (via Twitter)
Not unlike the UA men's team, the Arizona women's team's match with Utah came down to the final point of the final game of the final set. This time, however, it was the Wildcats getting the upper hand over the Utes in front of a home crowd at LaNelle Robson Tennis Center.
After Utah (12-9, 3-5 Pac-12) won the doubles point and Arizona jumped out to a 3-1 lead — sound familiar? — the Wildcats' Midori Castillo-Meza defeated Utah's Anastasia Concharova, 3-6, 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-4) to seal the 4-3 victory for the Wildcats.
Arizona's Salma Ziouti, Reece Carter and Tanvi Narendran all won in straight sets over their opponents to give Arizona that early 3-1 lead.
The Wildcats improved to 15-11 overall and 2-6 in conference play, and will take on Colorado at home Saturday at noon.
