Upcoming Event: Men's Tennis versus Utah Invitational on October 3, 2025
Men's Tennis
vs Utah Invitational
Wednesday, October 16
Denver, CO
All Day
University of Utah
vs
ITA Regionals
Photo by: Clare Mullin
Men's Tennis Set For ITA Regionals
10/15/2019 1:17 PM | Men's Tennis
FIRST SERVE
The University of Utah men's tennis team will be competing in the second event of the fall season this week, as the Utes will attend the ITA Regional Championships. The tournament will be held Wednesday through Sunday, Oct. 16-20, in Denver. The University of Denver will be hosting the event, while all teams from the Mountain Region will be in attendance.
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TOURNAMENT TALK
For the first day of action on Wednesday, the Round of 128 singles will be played, followed by the round of 64 doubles. Student-athletes will then end the day with the Round of 64 singles.Â
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Draws and times for the tournament will be posted to the ITA Mountain Regional website later this afternoon. Results will be made available after the conclusion of each day on the tournament website as well, along with a recap of the day's action being available on UtahUtes.com.
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STARTING STRONG
At Utah's home tournament, the Utah Invitational, Russell Benkaim and Azat Hankuliyev won their respective groups in the singles draw, while Benkaim and doubles partner Paul McCallie claimed the title of their doubles draw.Â
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Benkaim and McCallie went undefeated on the weekend in doubles action, with two victories on day one, defeating duos from Montana State and Southern Utah. They then followed their dominance with two more wins on day two. On the final day of competition, they faced off against teammates Azat Hankuliyev and Mathias Gavelin for the 'Drum and Feather' flight championship, coming out on top against Hankuliyev and Gavelin, 6-1, to finish first in the group.
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In singles, both Benkaim and Hankuliyev both went undefeated on the weekend. On day one of the tournament, Benkaim and Hankuliyev each picked up two wins to get the event started. The momentum continued on day two of the event and did not stop there when the two Utes completed the event by not dropping a singles match in the three-day round robin event.Â
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LAST TIME OUT
Along with the three flight wins for Utah, three more Utes saw action at the Utah Invitational with sophomore Mathias Gavelin competing, along with freshmen Rian Ta and Rafael Grovas, who earned their first victories as Utes. Ta and Grovas competed together in doubles and picked up two victories as a pair. Gavelin was paired with Hankuliyev in doubles and the duo notched three doubles wins on the weekend.Â
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In singles, Gavelin got off to a hot start on day one, picking up two wins. On day three, he recorded his final victory in singles to close out the event strong. Ta had a nice first event as a Ute and had three hard-fought matches that went to third-sets come out as wins for the freshman.  Grovas also notched his first singles victory as a Ute, beating out Zelver from Montana State during day one of competition.
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2018-19 IN REVIEW
The Utah men's tennis team earned a spot in the NCAA Men's Tennis Championships for the second straight year under the helm of head coach Roeland Brateanu after the team had not qualified since the 1997 season. Utah finished the season 17-12 overall and ranked No. 42 in the final ITA poll, while earning a No. 1 Mountain Region ranking in the final poll.
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The Utes picked up four wins over ranked opponents last season, including a win over No. 12 Stanford on Senior Day. Utah was led by all-conference selections Dan Little and David Micevski who finished the season ranked as the No. 45 and No. 93 players in the nation, respectively. Little also qualified for the NCAA Singles Championships and was Utah's first selection since the 2007 season.
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Brateanu was tabbed as the ITA Mountain Region Coach of the Year for the third straight season and Little was named the ITA Mountain Region Senior Player of the Year. Slava Shainyan also played a key role for the Utes last season mostly as the No. 3 singles player and paired with Micevski as the top doubles team. Russell Benkaim and Mathias Gavelin were also key contributors to Utah's success from a year ago.
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UP NEXT
The Utah men's tennis team will be back in action when the team heads to Los Angeles to compete in the LMU Invitational, which will be held Friday to Sunday, Nov. 8-10.Â
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The University of Utah men's tennis team will be competing in the second event of the fall season this week, as the Utes will attend the ITA Regional Championships. The tournament will be held Wednesday through Sunday, Oct. 16-20, in Denver. The University of Denver will be hosting the event, while all teams from the Mountain Region will be in attendance.
Â
TOURNAMENT TALK
For the first day of action on Wednesday, the Round of 128 singles will be played, followed by the round of 64 doubles. Student-athletes will then end the day with the Round of 64 singles.Â
Â
Draws and times for the tournament will be posted to the ITA Mountain Regional website later this afternoon. Results will be made available after the conclusion of each day on the tournament website as well, along with a recap of the day's action being available on UtahUtes.com.
Â
STARTING STRONG
At Utah's home tournament, the Utah Invitational, Russell Benkaim and Azat Hankuliyev won their respective groups in the singles draw, while Benkaim and doubles partner Paul McCallie claimed the title of their doubles draw.Â
Â
Benkaim and McCallie went undefeated on the weekend in doubles action, with two victories on day one, defeating duos from Montana State and Southern Utah. They then followed their dominance with two more wins on day two. On the final day of competition, they faced off against teammates Azat Hankuliyev and Mathias Gavelin for the 'Drum and Feather' flight championship, coming out on top against Hankuliyev and Gavelin, 6-1, to finish first in the group.
Â
In singles, both Benkaim and Hankuliyev both went undefeated on the weekend. On day one of the tournament, Benkaim and Hankuliyev each picked up two wins to get the event started. The momentum continued on day two of the event and did not stop there when the two Utes completed the event by not dropping a singles match in the three-day round robin event.Â
Â
LAST TIME OUT
Along with the three flight wins for Utah, three more Utes saw action at the Utah Invitational with sophomore Mathias Gavelin competing, along with freshmen Rian Ta and Rafael Grovas, who earned their first victories as Utes. Ta and Grovas competed together in doubles and picked up two victories as a pair. Gavelin was paired with Hankuliyev in doubles and the duo notched three doubles wins on the weekend.Â
Â
In singles, Gavelin got off to a hot start on day one, picking up two wins. On day three, he recorded his final victory in singles to close out the event strong. Ta had a nice first event as a Ute and had three hard-fought matches that went to third-sets come out as wins for the freshman.  Grovas also notched his first singles victory as a Ute, beating out Zelver from Montana State during day one of competition.
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2018-19 IN REVIEW
The Utah men's tennis team earned a spot in the NCAA Men's Tennis Championships for the second straight year under the helm of head coach Roeland Brateanu after the team had not qualified since the 1997 season. Utah finished the season 17-12 overall and ranked No. 42 in the final ITA poll, while earning a No. 1 Mountain Region ranking in the final poll.
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The Utes picked up four wins over ranked opponents last season, including a win over No. 12 Stanford on Senior Day. Utah was led by all-conference selections Dan Little and David Micevski who finished the season ranked as the No. 45 and No. 93 players in the nation, respectively. Little also qualified for the NCAA Singles Championships and was Utah's first selection since the 2007 season.
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Brateanu was tabbed as the ITA Mountain Region Coach of the Year for the third straight season and Little was named the ITA Mountain Region Senior Player of the Year. Slava Shainyan also played a key role for the Utes last season mostly as the No. 3 singles player and paired with Micevski as the top doubles team. Russell Benkaim and Mathias Gavelin were also key contributors to Utah's success from a year ago.
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UP NEXT
The Utah men's tennis team will be back in action when the team heads to Los Angeles to compete in the LMU Invitational, which will be held Friday to Sunday, Nov. 8-10.Â
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Players Mentioned
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