PROVO -- In its last week at home until mid-April, the No. 35 BYU men’s tennis team will face No. 58 San Diego Friday and host a United States Tennis Association (USTA) Campus Showdown Saturday. The Cougars (13-3) will look to rebound from last week’s 6-1 loss to Nebraska.
“Putting distance between the loss to Nebraska is on everybody’s mind,” BYU coach Brad Pearce said. “We want to get a fresh start.”
The Toreros come to Provo with a 7-5 record on the season. They will also be using the match to recover from two tough losses last week. The team fell 4-3 to Boise State and 5-1 to Arizona. San Diego’s Nikola Bubnic is the only ranked player and comes in at No. 100. BYU and USD have not played since 2001 when the Cougars lost 6-1 at San Diego.
“San Diego always has a good team, and we’re expecting a tough battle,” Pearce said.
Saturday, BYU hosts the USTA Campus Showdown, a short-format tournament meant to bring local juniors, college players, former professionals and other adults together. Competition is set up in a compass draw, meaning every player is guaranteed four matches. One set will be played in each match with a tiebreak at five-all.
Registration is open to anyone and will be opened from 9-9:30 a.m. Saturday at the outdoor tennis courts. The cost for singles and doubles is $20 and play begins at 10 a.m. The tournament is not a BYU team event but several of the men’s tennis players plan to compete.
“I hope we have some players who take the opportunity to play more matches,” Pearce said.
Friday’s match against San Diego begins at noon at the BYU Indoor Courts, south of the Smith Fieldhouse. The team will provide pizza and prizes to fans. All BYU “Y Lot” parking lots are open to the public after 4 p.m. Friday and all day Saturday.