Upcoming Event: Men's Tennis versus ITA All-American Championships on September 21, 2025
Men's Tennis
vs ITA All-American Championships
Wednesday, October 16
Denver, CO
All Day
University of Utah
vs
ITA Regionals
Photo by: Clare Mullin
Benkaim and Hankuliyev Advance After Day One of ITA Regionals
10/16/2019 7:34 PM | Men's Tennis
DENVER, Colo. – The University of Utah men's tennis team has wrapped up day one of competition at the ITA Regionals. Wednesday's action consisted of the round of 128 singles, round of 64 singles, and round of 64 doubles.
Azat Hankuliyev carded a victory for the Utes in the round of 128 singles against Marcos Zelver from Montana State, cruising to 6-2, 6-4 victory to advance to the round of 64 singles. Later in the day, he then matched up against Milos Dabic and recorded another dominant victory, coming away with a 6-1, 6-3 win. With this win, Hankuliyev will play against Mateo Vereau from BYU in the round of 32 singles on Thursday as the tournament continues.
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The eighth-seeded Russell Benkaim saw a bye in the round of 128 singles, and then started singles play off strong in the round of 64. He faced off against Gvidas Motuzas from the University of Nevada, coming away with a win in a competitive 7-5, 6-4 match. Benkaim will continue tomorrow in the round of 32 singles and will face BYU's Ben Gajardo.
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The Utes had two teams compete in the round of 64 doubles today, which were the Ute pairings of Rafael Grovas and Rian Ta, and Benkaim and Paul McCallie. Grovas and Ta were matched up against Max Korkh and Shaffrey Oisin from the University of Montana and fell short with a score of 4-8. Benkaim and McCallie then faced off against Fynn Lohse and Lukas Ridemar from Idaho State and dropped the match, 5-8. Both duos will compete in the consolation bracket of doubles as the tournament continues tomorrow morning.
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The 16th-seeded doubles duo of Azat Hankuliyev and Mathias Gavelin had a bye today, and are set to match up against Jordan Azuma and Denali Kitayama from Air Force for tomorrow's round of 32 doubles in the main draw.
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In singles, five Utes competed in the round of 128, which were Ta, Grovas, McCallie, Hankuliyev, and Gavelin. Ta was matched up against Matheus Leite from BYU, falling short in a competitive match with a score of 5-7, 4-6. Grovas was paired against Raul Dobai from the University of New Mexico and came up short 1-6, 0-6. McCallie dropped his match to Sam Tullis from BYU, falling short with a score of 5-7, 0-6. Gavelin faced Mack Galvin from Air Force, in which he dropped the first set 4-6, and then was able to rally back by taking a tight second set 7-5. Ultimately, Gavelin fell short in the third set, 2-6, to drop the match.Â
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Ta, Grovas, McCallie, and Gavelin, will all compete in the consolation bracket of singles, with action continuing tomorrow during the second day of the tournament.Â
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The ITA Regional Tournament will continue tomorrow with the round of 32 singles, round of 32 doubles, as well as the start of the consolation brackets for both doubles and singles. Live updates for the tournament can be found at the ITA website, with a recap of the day's action being available at UtahUtes.com once competition has concluded for the day.
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ITA Regional Championships – Day 1 Results
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Singles – Round of 128
Matheus Leite (BYU) def. Rian Ta (UU), 7-5, 6-4
Raul Dobai (UNM) def. Rafael Grovas (UU), 6-1, 6-0
Sam Tullis (BYU) def. Paul McCallie (UU), 7-5, 6-0
Azat Hankuliyev (UU) def. Marcos Zelver (MSU), 6-2, 6-4
Mack Galvin (AFA) def. Mathias Gavelin (UU), 6-4, 5-7, 6-2
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Singles – Round of 64
8th-Seeded Russell Benkaim (UU) def. Gvidas Motuzas (NEV), 7-5, 6-4
Azat Hankuliyev (UU) def. Milos Dabic (UNLV), 6-1, 6-3
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Doubles
Max Korkh/Shaffrey Oisin (UM) def. Rafael Grovas/Rian Ta (UU), 8-4
Fynn Lohse/Lukas Ridemar (ISU) def. Russell Benkaim/Paul McCallie (UU), 8-5
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Azat Hankuliyev carded a victory for the Utes in the round of 128 singles against Marcos Zelver from Montana State, cruising to 6-2, 6-4 victory to advance to the round of 64 singles. Later in the day, he then matched up against Milos Dabic and recorded another dominant victory, coming away with a 6-1, 6-3 win. With this win, Hankuliyev will play against Mateo Vereau from BYU in the round of 32 singles on Thursday as the tournament continues.
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The eighth-seeded Russell Benkaim saw a bye in the round of 128 singles, and then started singles play off strong in the round of 64. He faced off against Gvidas Motuzas from the University of Nevada, coming away with a win in a competitive 7-5, 6-4 match. Benkaim will continue tomorrow in the round of 32 singles and will face BYU's Ben Gajardo.
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The Utes had two teams compete in the round of 64 doubles today, which were the Ute pairings of Rafael Grovas and Rian Ta, and Benkaim and Paul McCallie. Grovas and Ta were matched up against Max Korkh and Shaffrey Oisin from the University of Montana and fell short with a score of 4-8. Benkaim and McCallie then faced off against Fynn Lohse and Lukas Ridemar from Idaho State and dropped the match, 5-8. Both duos will compete in the consolation bracket of doubles as the tournament continues tomorrow morning.
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The 16th-seeded doubles duo of Azat Hankuliyev and Mathias Gavelin had a bye today, and are set to match up against Jordan Azuma and Denali Kitayama from Air Force for tomorrow's round of 32 doubles in the main draw.
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In singles, five Utes competed in the round of 128, which were Ta, Grovas, McCallie, Hankuliyev, and Gavelin. Ta was matched up against Matheus Leite from BYU, falling short in a competitive match with a score of 5-7, 4-6. Grovas was paired against Raul Dobai from the University of New Mexico and came up short 1-6, 0-6. McCallie dropped his match to Sam Tullis from BYU, falling short with a score of 5-7, 0-6. Gavelin faced Mack Galvin from Air Force, in which he dropped the first set 4-6, and then was able to rally back by taking a tight second set 7-5. Ultimately, Gavelin fell short in the third set, 2-6, to drop the match.Â
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Ta, Grovas, McCallie, and Gavelin, will all compete in the consolation bracket of singles, with action continuing tomorrow during the second day of the tournament.Â
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The ITA Regional Tournament will continue tomorrow with the round of 32 singles, round of 32 doubles, as well as the start of the consolation brackets for both doubles and singles. Live updates for the tournament can be found at the ITA website, with a recap of the day's action being available at UtahUtes.com once competition has concluded for the day.
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ITA Regional Championships – Day 1 Results
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Singles – Round of 128
Matheus Leite (BYU) def. Rian Ta (UU), 7-5, 6-4
Raul Dobai (UNM) def. Rafael Grovas (UU), 6-1, 6-0
Sam Tullis (BYU) def. Paul McCallie (UU), 7-5, 6-0
Azat Hankuliyev (UU) def. Marcos Zelver (MSU), 6-2, 6-4
Mack Galvin (AFA) def. Mathias Gavelin (UU), 6-4, 5-7, 6-2
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Singles – Round of 64
8th-Seeded Russell Benkaim (UU) def. Gvidas Motuzas (NEV), 7-5, 6-4
Azat Hankuliyev (UU) def. Milos Dabic (UNLV), 6-1, 6-3
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Doubles
Max Korkh/Shaffrey Oisin (UM) def. Rafael Grovas/Rian Ta (UU), 8-4
Fynn Lohse/Lukas Ridemar (ISU) def. Russell Benkaim/Paul McCallie (UU), 8-5
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Players Mentioned
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