Arizona Men’s Tennis: Wildcat Invitational Day 1 Roundup

Will Kneale won two singles matches, earning himself a spot in Saturday’s semifinals.

Senior Will Kneale is the lone Arizona Wildcat remaining in the main bracket of the Wildcat Invitational being held in Tucson this weekend.

Harry Busby, along with both UA doubles teams, suffered a first-round loss at the team’s second tournament of the season.

Kneale, seeded fourth, will face Wichita State’s Eddie Stoica in Saturday’s semifinal at Ventana Canyon Racquet Club.

Singles Recap:

Harry Busby

Round 1 vs. Grand Canyon (5-7, 6-3, 5-7)

On Center Court, Harry Busby, who transferred to UA from Mesa Community College in 2014, lost a tough three-set battle to Grand Canyon’s drop shot-happy Adrian Legarreta.

The first set was neck and neck until a handful of unforced errors by Busby allowed Legarreta to take the frame 7-5.

In the second set, the Wildcat came out fighting, and, by a margin of 6-3, leveled the match at one apiece.

But in the end, Busby’s buggy whip forehands and two-handed backhands weren’t enough to beat Legarreta, who ended Busby’s tournament by winning the deciding set 7-5.

Will Kneale

Round 1 vs. Mesa Community (7-5, 6-1)

On Court 4, Will Kneale executed a routine victory over Andres Loaiza of MCC by a scoreline of 7-5, 6-1.

Round 2 (6-3, 6-1)

On Center, the lefty from Melbourne, Australia ousted Patrik Pech of Fresno State in straight sets, winning the first 6-3 on a dead net cord ace, and the second in a 6-1 blowout.

Semifinals

Saturday, Kneale will face Eddie Stoica of Wichita State, who, having played a total of seven sets on Friday, has some serious recovering to do before then. Also, in the C-Draw, freshman Mike Lee will play a semifinal match against Enrique Asmar from New Mexico State.

Doubles Recap:

It was a tough day on the doubles court for the Wildcats. Both UA tandems were eliminated from the tournament after being dealt convincing losses by Wichita State and New Mexico State.

Kneale/Busby

Round 1 vs. Wichita State (2-6)

On Center Court, the right-lefty, British-Australian duo of Kneale and Busby was unable to beat the side from Wichita State. Despite creative use of I-formation on Kneale’s serve and aggressive returns from Busby, Wichita State pulled off a quick 6-2 victory.

Zamorano/Lee

Round 1 vs. New Mexico State (2-6)

Meanwhile, the other Wildcat partnership, consisting of senior Jose Zamorano from Mexico and freshman Mike Lee from Tucson, went down 0-3 right off the bat and never quite found their way back into it. New Mexico State closed out the match at 6-2.

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