Idaho men’s tennis coach Jeff Beaman said that for his team to be considered one of the best in the region it needs to have a strong showing at the Eastern Washington University Classic this weekend.
“I expect them all to do well. Expect, not hope,” Beaman said. “I think we have a chance for players to be in the finals of every draw, and I hope to see teammates beating each other in the semifinals.”
Montana, Montana State, Gonzaga, Seattle U, Lewis-Clark State College, Portland, Eastern Washington and Idaho are expected to make the trip to Cheney, Wash., this weekend. Beaman said there will be a lot of tough players in the three singles flights and two doubles flights.
“Gonzaga has a nationally ranked number one player, and all the teams are strong at the top of their lineups,” Beaman said.
Beaman said senior Artemiy Nikitin and sophomore Odon Barta are not travelling to the tournament.
“They get a week of rest after playing two weeks in a row,” Beaman said. “If I didn’t give them the week off they would be playing five tournaments in a row.”
In the first flight senior Jose Bendeck and junior Cesar Torres are in the bottom half of the draw and are the two and three seeds respectively. They could play each other in the semifinals. Junior Cristobal Ramos Salazar is also in this flight, but he is unseeded and in the top half of the draw. Salazar could meet the fourth seed as early as his second match.
In the second flight sophomore Andrew Zedde is the second seed. He plays Gonzaga’s Pablo Mosquera in his first match Friday. Zedde is in the bottom half of the draw. The other Vandal in this flight, sophomore Matt Oddonetto, is in the top half of the draw. He could face the number one seed, Gonzaga’s Hayden Smith in his second match.
In the third flight, unseeded freshman Sam Laudon has a bye into the round of 16 where he will face the number one seed, UM’s Peter Mimnagh-Fleming. Senior Filip Fichtel is also in this flight as the third seed.
In the Red Flight Doubles draw Bendeck and Ramos Salazar are the number one seeded team. They will face a duo from Seattle in their first match Saturday morning. Zedde and Oddonetto are also in this flight.
In the White Flight Doubles, Fichtel and Laudon are in the top half of the draw, while Idaho’s Torres pairs with Gonzaga’s Vicente Varas to take on the Portland’s Alex Wallace and Kent Andreasen in the bottom half of the draw.
Play lasts through Sunday, and although play is scheduled to be outside there are four indoor courts should it rain this weekend.
Andrew Deskins can be reached at [email protected]