Brandon Miller | Argonaut
Cristobal Salazar enjoying practice while getting ready for this weekends match against Gonzaga in Spokane, Washington.
The fall tennis season offers a time for teams to see what kind of players they have and how they will be able to compete in the spring when the conference tournament takes place. The Idaho men’s tennis team competed in three tournaments so far this fall and will play in its final one Friday to Sunday at the Gonzaga Fall Tournament in Spokane.
Idaho’s biggest tournament was this past weekend at the ITA Regionals in Las Vegas. Idaho coach Art Hoomiratana said he saw things he liked in the past tournament.
“It went good, there were a lot of positives that came out from it,” he said. “We didn’t go as far as we wanted, but I think we got a lot better. You always want better results, but I can’t say I’m disappointed in the results. They always compete really hard.”
Hoomiratana was mostly impressed with junior Odon Barta.
“Odon played really well, big improvement over last year,” Hoomiratana said. “He won four matches, and then lost to the one-seed (Henry Craig, from Denver). He played a pretty competitive match, (Craig) was really good, he ended up winning it.”
Barta won his first four matches advancing to the quarterfinals where he lost to Craig. It was by far Barta’s deepest tournament run of the season thus far.
With the last tournament coming up, it is the last chance for Idaho to figure problems out in real competition before spring. One thing Hoomiratana wants to improve is the team’s doubles play.
“We were planning on switching up some of the pairings. But were not sure yet, we may end up keeping it the same,” he said.
In the ITA Regionals, Idaho sent two doubles teams out and neither could find much luck. Cristobal Ramos Salazar and Felipe Fonseca and the other team of Barta and Mark Kovacs each lost in the second round of the doubles bracket.
Hoomiratana said the health of senior Ramos Salazar is a factor in the doubles pairings at the Gonzaga Fall Tournament.
“We don’t know if he (Ramos Salazar) is playing yet,” he said. “So depending on if he plays or not, he’s big for our doubles. If he plays, were going to switch up stuff. If he doesn’t, were probably going to keep it the same.”
Ramos Salazar has been bothered by what the senior called a tennis elbow, but his coach says it is something different this time.
“He tweaked his knee a little bit,” Hoomiratana said. “He’s going to test it out today. I would think he’s not (going to play).”
While Ramos Salazar was held back in the last tournament by his injuries, he wasn’t alone. Many other Vandals did not advance as far into the tournament. Junior Jackson Varney fell in the Round of 32 and freshman Fonseca and Kovacs both lost in the second round.
The Vandals will hope for a better showing in Spokane this weekend to wrap up the fall, and will look for big performances to carry over into the spring season.
Ben Evensen can be reached at [email protected]