Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State Opens Season at Wave Invitational
9/22/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Sept. 22, 2009
An experienced Fresno State men's tennis team embarks on a new year this weekend at the Wave Invitational on Friday-Sunday in Mailibu, Calif.. The Tournament hosted by Pepperdine will open the fall season for the Bulldogs.
Six veterans lead the 2009-10 'Dogs. Most notably, Mirko Zapletal, Rikus de Villiers, Remi Boutillier and Tejesvi Veerepalli held down the No. 2-5 spots and Siddharth Alapati. Taylor Leiby each took time at No. 6 for Fresno State last season. The Bulldogs recruited three new players this year who will look to make an immediate contribution.
Instead of a bracket format, the competitors will be paired up based on teams, but the tournament will be scored as a singles and doubles tournament. The Bulldogs will start the invitational against the Arizona Wildcats of the Pac-10 on Friday at 10 a.m., followed by the Big Ten's Minnesota on Saturday at 10 a.m. and will conclude against defending West Coast Conference Champion Pepperdine on Sunday at 2 p.m.
Fresno State faced both Arizona and Pepperdine in 2008-09, but has not competed against Minnesota since 2004.
Last season's match against the Wildcats was one of the most exciting of the season. The Bulldogs stormed out to commanding 3-0 team lead in front of their home crowd at the Spalding G. Wathen Tennis Center. But Arizona rallied back to win the next four matches to take a 4-3 victory.
This year the Wildcats return their entire team, including No. 36 Jay Goldman and No. 122 Andres Arango.
Minnesota went 19-8 last year, earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the second round. The Gophers have a young team that features five sophomores and one freshman, but six players have NCAA Tournament experience.
The Waves are coming off their 19th-consecutive WCC Championship season and 40th in school history. Pepperdine is lead by senior Bassam Beidas, who earned All-American honors in doubles in 2009 and in singles in 2008.
Pepperdine has to replace 2009 All-American and top player Omar Altmann, but it returns five of the six players that won last season's WCC title and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
After the Wave Invitational, Fresno State returns home to host the Bulldog Classic on Oct. 2-4 at the Wathen Tennis Center.
"We Are Your Team" - Come cheer on the Bulldogs as they host the Bulldog Classic on Oct. 2-4 at the Wathen Tennis Center. Competition starts at 9 p.m. each day. For all the up to date information on Fresno State men's tennis stay logged on to gobulldogs.com.
Players Mentioned
