Lopes win season opener in exciting fashion

Friday, January 17

Phoenix, Ariz.

1 p.m.

Grand Canyon

New Mexico State

Photo by: Jack Gilday

1/17/2025 7:00:00 PM | Men's Tennis

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GCU's Wekesa exits due to injury but teammates step up to beat NMSU

By: Braden Dohrmann

The Grand Canyon men's tennis team took multiple moments of conflict head on, ultimately battling its way to a 4-3 clutch victory over New Mexico State in Friday's season opener at GCU Tennis Facility.

A late 3-3 tie put the result in the hands of graduate Matteo Lugari, who arrived in Phoenix less than two weeks ago from his hometown of Rome, Italy.

Lugari dropped a 7-5 first set on Court 4 and trailed 3-0 early in the second, Lugari fought his way back to take the second set 7-5. The third set began after every other court had finished, leaving Lugari an opportunity to capture the spotlight in his first collegiate match.

Much of the set went back and forth, but when Lugari was serving with a 4-3 deficit, he stepped up and won out to take the set 6-4, win his match and give GCU the dual victory.

"I have been a part of a lot of college tennis matches in my time, and I would put that one up there with some of the best matches I have seen," Lopes head coach Derek Siddiqui said. "Matteo was competing in his first college match, was cramping, is still adjusting to the hard courts: and he just found a way to get it done."

Rewinding three hours, the season began in great spirits, with the Lopes sweeping the three doubles courts to take the doubles point and a 1-0 dual lead.

Two GCU senior returners, Paolo Rosati and Jonathan Da Silva, made easy work of NMSU's Gustavo Campos and Tobias Wallin for a 6-0 win on Court 3. Lopes newcomers Andreas Loizas, a freshman, and Nikita Volonski, a sophomore, were not too far behind with a 6-2 victory over the Aggies' Court 2 pairing of Matias Rojas and Holland Snell. The WAC Tennis Invitational's doubles champions, senior Brice Patoux and junior David Wekesa, took care of Court 1 to clinch the GCU sweep.

Trouble hit early for the Lopes in singles, as Wekesa went down with a lower-leg injury in the first set on Court 3. Wekesa was visibly in pain and stayed down on the ground for close to 10 minutes before being helped off the courts. Not only did the Lopes lose Wekesa for presumably the weekend, but the Aggies also captured their first point via the forfeit.

"Obviously, we are hoping he will be back within the month," Siddiqui said. "David is a huge asset to this team, our best doubles player, and one of our best singles players. He is a beast athletically and, if he could not return, that is probably a sign it is not a good injury."

GCU, doing its best to keep focused on its task at hand, won straight-set victories on Court 1 (Volonski) and Court 5 (Loizas). The Aggies roared back with a tiebreaker victory in set 2 on Court 6. New Mexico State's Lance Urlaub took the second set 7-6 over Da Silva while Patoux dropped a three-setter on Court 2 to NMSU's Itay Feigin.

The stage was then set for Court 4 to decide the match. Lugari did the rest, bringing the Lopes to 1-0 on the season. GCU will next face LMU at home on Sunday at 1 p.m.