ORLANDO, FL – The magical run is over for the Arizona Tennis team (21-8, 5-2), as the Wildcats fell to No. 3 Tennessee (27-3, 10-2) on Monday morning.
It has been an exciting season to follow for Arizona Tennis as the Wildcats have made a lot of great strides this season, including upset wins over Michigan and Kentucky two weeks ago. However, all good things must come to an end at some point, and after a tremendous run in 2020-21, the good fortune has run out.
Playing in their first Sweet 16 matchup in program history, the challenge would be on as the Wildcats took on a worthy adversary against the No. 3 Tennessee Volunteers in Orlando on Monday morning.
Arizona Wildcats
And despite seeing early success in the Tournament, things did not get off to a particularly great start for the Wildcats in this one either.
Digging themselves into an early hole, Arizona would lose in all of their doubles matches, giving Tennessee the early lead.
However, the pressure would be on for Arizona as they entered singles play. Arizona’s Gustaf Strom would fall to Tennessee’s Adam Walton in three sets, dropping the first set 7-5 and the final set 6-2.
Arizona’s Jonas Ziverts would then score the upset, defeating No. 8 player in the country in Johannus Monday in straight sets 7-5 and 6-3.
While Alejandro Reguant defeated Giles Hussey and Carlos Hassey defeated Pat Harper both in two sets, it ultimately wasn’t enough for the Wildcats in this one.
Tennessee’s Martim Prata would defeat Filip Malbasic 6-0 and 6-3, and Luca Wiedenmann would defeat Herman Hoeyeraal in three sets to deliver the 4-3 win over Arizona.
With the win, Tennessee will advance to the Elite Eight and will square off with No. 11 Georgia.
While Arizona’s season is over, there is a lot to look forward to with this program. The Wildcats seemed to have exceeded expectations, and they should return a decent core of talent for next season.