Completed Event: Men's Tennis versus Baylor on April 16, 2026 , Loss , 1, to, 4
Final Score
Men's Tennis
1
vs Baylor
4
The University of Utah Athletics
Photo by: Steve C. Wilson
Utah Men's Tennis: Rolling On
1/9/2020 2:59 PM | Men's Tennis
Utah men’s tennis looking to make its third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance in 2020.
         During a very successful 2018-19 season, the Utah men's tennis team advanced to postseason play, had an overall record of 17-12 and climbed as high as No. 41 in the national rankings. This spring, the Utes are striving to make their third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.
               Roeland Brateanu, who has been named the ITA Mountain Region Coach of the Year the last three years, is entering his sixth season as head coach. He has led the Utes to a No. 1 Mountain Region ranking as well as a spot in the ITA/Oracle final rankings three of the last four seasons. The Utes' 53-30 record the past three years is the program's best run since the early 1980s. In his five seasons at the helm, Brateanu has seen the Utes notch 10 All-Pac-12 selections and five ITA Mountain Region end of year awards. Academically, the team posted a record-setting 3.54 GPA in 2016-17. Utah placed a program-best seven student-athletes on the Pac-12 All-Academic teams in 2017-18.
               The anticipated top returner this season is senior Slava Shainyan. Shainyan held the No. 3 position in singles last year, posting eight wins in dual action with five straight wins from Jan. 19 to Feb. 9. Shainyan's top highlight came from his clinching singles victory against Miami when he topped No. 58 Bojan Jankulovski. Shainyan was paired David Micevski at the No. 1 position in doubles and notched 10 wins, taking down the No. 17-ranked doubles team from Cal and defeating Stanford's No. 1 duo. Shainyan was named an ITA Scholar-Athlete as well as a first-team Pac-12 All-Academic selection.
        Fellow senior Azat Hankuliyev spent time last season at the No. 6 spot in singles, earning three dual wins. Hankuliyev was paired with Dan Little in doubles, posting seven wins in dual action. Notable wins included wins against duos from No. 40 Old Dominion and No. 31 Oregon.
               Entering his junior season, Russell Benkaim finished the 2018-19 season with a final ranking of No. 17 in the ITA Mountain Region and earned Pac-12 All-Academic honorable mention. Benkaim was dominant at the No. 4 singles position for the Utes, finishing the season 16-7. Benkaim earned a Pac-12 Player of the Week honor for his performance in the Utes' sweeps over No. 40 Old Dominion and Denver. In the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament, Benkaim took down Joshua Charlton of Oregon in singles. In doubles, Benkaim went 15-10, including a 10-3 record with Joe Woolley at the No. 3 spot. During his sophomore year, Randy Cory battled an injury that kept him out for most of the spring season. Prior to the injury, Cory was paired with Benkaim at the No. 1 spot in doubles.
               Coming off a successful freshman season, Mathias Gavelin carded 14 dual wins in singles play at the No. 4-6 spots. Gavelin opened the 2018-19 season with eight straight victories and also notched a pair of wins over opponents from top-50 programs, defeating Luca Maldoner of No. 40 Old Dominion and Ethan Young-Smith of No. 31 Oregon. At the Pac-12 Tournament, Gavelin was able to take down Charles Roberts of Oregon.
        Paul McCallie is looking to make an impact this year now in his second season with the Utes. McCallie saw action at the Utah Invitational, ITA Regionals and LMU Invitational this fall. Highlighting fall action for McCallie, he and Benkaim teamed up to go undefeated as a duo in the Utah Invitational. They took down teammates Azat Hankuliyev and Mathias Gavelin in the championship round of their flight.
        Utah has welcomed four freshmen to the program with two joining the Utes for the fall season and two joining in January. Joining Utah in the fall was Rafael Grovas, who hails from San German, Puerto Rico. Grovas was a four-star recruit and held the No. 1 junior ranking for his country. He has been ranked as high as No. 405 in the ITF Junior World Rankings and represented Puerto Rico twice in the Davis Cup. Also in Salt Lake City for the fall, Rian Ta, a native of Fremont, Calif., is another four-star recruit. He was ranked as high as No. 2 in Northern California in doubles play and was one of the top juniors in the USTA NorCal section.
               The two freshmen joining the team this month were Franco Capalbo and Wally Thayne. Hailing from Buenos Aires, Argentina, Capalbo was ranked as high as No. 802 in singles and No. 529 in doubles in the ATP World Tour Rankings. Capalbo also climbed as high as No. 15 in the Junior ITF World Rankings. Thayne, from Newbury Park, Calif., is a high school All-American and a four-star recruit who holds a No. 73 recruiting rank. He has held the No. 1 ranking in the SoCal Boys' 18's and is currently ranked on the ATP Doubles Tour.
               Utah will open the spring season with home matches against Idaho (noon) and Weber State (5 p.m.) on Thursday, Jan. 16 at the George S. Eccles Tennis Center.
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               Roeland Brateanu, who has been named the ITA Mountain Region Coach of the Year the last three years, is entering his sixth season as head coach. He has led the Utes to a No. 1 Mountain Region ranking as well as a spot in the ITA/Oracle final rankings three of the last four seasons. The Utes' 53-30 record the past three years is the program's best run since the early 1980s. In his five seasons at the helm, Brateanu has seen the Utes notch 10 All-Pac-12 selections and five ITA Mountain Region end of year awards. Academically, the team posted a record-setting 3.54 GPA in 2016-17. Utah placed a program-best seven student-athletes on the Pac-12 All-Academic teams in 2017-18.
               The anticipated top returner this season is senior Slava Shainyan. Shainyan held the No. 3 position in singles last year, posting eight wins in dual action with five straight wins from Jan. 19 to Feb. 9. Shainyan's top highlight came from his clinching singles victory against Miami when he topped No. 58 Bojan Jankulovski. Shainyan was paired David Micevski at the No. 1 position in doubles and notched 10 wins, taking down the No. 17-ranked doubles team from Cal and defeating Stanford's No. 1 duo. Shainyan was named an ITA Scholar-Athlete as well as a first-team Pac-12 All-Academic selection.
        Fellow senior Azat Hankuliyev spent time last season at the No. 6 spot in singles, earning three dual wins. Hankuliyev was paired with Dan Little in doubles, posting seven wins in dual action. Notable wins included wins against duos from No. 40 Old Dominion and No. 31 Oregon.
               Entering his junior season, Russell Benkaim finished the 2018-19 season with a final ranking of No. 17 in the ITA Mountain Region and earned Pac-12 All-Academic honorable mention. Benkaim was dominant at the No. 4 singles position for the Utes, finishing the season 16-7. Benkaim earned a Pac-12 Player of the Week honor for his performance in the Utes' sweeps over No. 40 Old Dominion and Denver. In the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament, Benkaim took down Joshua Charlton of Oregon in singles. In doubles, Benkaim went 15-10, including a 10-3 record with Joe Woolley at the No. 3 spot. During his sophomore year, Randy Cory battled an injury that kept him out for most of the spring season. Prior to the injury, Cory was paired with Benkaim at the No. 1 spot in doubles.
               Coming off a successful freshman season, Mathias Gavelin carded 14 dual wins in singles play at the No. 4-6 spots. Gavelin opened the 2018-19 season with eight straight victories and also notched a pair of wins over opponents from top-50 programs, defeating Luca Maldoner of No. 40 Old Dominion and Ethan Young-Smith of No. 31 Oregon. At the Pac-12 Tournament, Gavelin was able to take down Charles Roberts of Oregon.
        Paul McCallie is looking to make an impact this year now in his second season with the Utes. McCallie saw action at the Utah Invitational, ITA Regionals and LMU Invitational this fall. Highlighting fall action for McCallie, he and Benkaim teamed up to go undefeated as a duo in the Utah Invitational. They took down teammates Azat Hankuliyev and Mathias Gavelin in the championship round of their flight.
        Utah has welcomed four freshmen to the program with two joining the Utes for the fall season and two joining in January. Joining Utah in the fall was Rafael Grovas, who hails from San German, Puerto Rico. Grovas was a four-star recruit and held the No. 1 junior ranking for his country. He has been ranked as high as No. 405 in the ITF Junior World Rankings and represented Puerto Rico twice in the Davis Cup. Also in Salt Lake City for the fall, Rian Ta, a native of Fremont, Calif., is another four-star recruit. He was ranked as high as No. 2 in Northern California in doubles play and was one of the top juniors in the USTA NorCal section.
               The two freshmen joining the team this month were Franco Capalbo and Wally Thayne. Hailing from Buenos Aires, Argentina, Capalbo was ranked as high as No. 802 in singles and No. 529 in doubles in the ATP World Tour Rankings. Capalbo also climbed as high as No. 15 in the Junior ITF World Rankings. Thayne, from Newbury Park, Calif., is a high school All-American and a four-star recruit who holds a No. 73 recruiting rank. He has held the No. 1 ranking in the SoCal Boys' 18's and is currently ranked on the ATP Doubles Tour.
               Utah will open the spring season with home matches against Idaho (noon) and Weber State (5 p.m.) on Thursday, Jan. 16 at the George S. Eccles Tennis Center.
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