OJAI, Calif – #14 Arizona [2] swept #43 Washington [7] 4-0 in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 Championships on Thursday, April 27. The ‘Cats avenged their first round upset to the Huskies in the 2022 tournament.
It was a brisk 2 hour and 15 minute match that saw the Wildcats capture a decisive doubles point and three swift singles matches. Arizona tandem Herman Hoeyeraal and Colton Smith dominated Washington’s Suko/Hendrikx at two doubles where the ‘Cats won the match 6-1 after an ace by Smith. Shortly after #41 Jonas Ziverts and Jay Friend were bested 1-6 at one doubles by #56 Bouchelaghem/Zhayrn. Then all eyes were on three doubles as Wildcat duo Gustaf Strom and Eric Padgham entered a tiebreaker against Lin/Pearson where the ‘Cats clinched the point 7-6(2). The Arizona pair also clinched the doubles point against ASU on April 22 which helped the team garner its back-to-back regular season Pac-12 title.
We LOVE a Gus and Padg clinch ??
def. Lin/Pearson 7-6(2) pic.twitter.com/qc0uKiz39f
— Arizona Men’s Tennis (@ArizonaMTennis) April 27, 2023
The ‘Cats performed strong throughout the entirety of singles play with every first set ending in a Wildcat’s favor. Freshman Friend finished first at five singles with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Hendrikx followed by Hoeyeraal who also won his match against Suko in straight sets 6-2, 6-3. Clinching the win for Arizona was #41 Ziverts at two singles who defeated #71 Bouchelaghem 6-2 in straight sets. The fifth-year captain was named Pac-12 Scholar Athlete of the Year for his outstanding performances on the court and in the classroom.
Arizona advances to the semifinals of the tournament where they’ll face off against either Utah [3] or UCLA [6] tomorrow, Friday, April 28 at 4 p.m. MT. Subscribe to Pac-12 Networks to watch the matches live or follow us on Twitter @ArizonaMTennis for in-game updates.
Results
#14 Arizona [2] 4, #43 Washington [7] 0
DOUBLES:
1. Cesar Bouchelaghem/Dzianis Zharyn (WASH) def. Jonas Ziverts/Jay Friend (ARIZ) – 6-1
2. Colton Smith/Herman Hoeyeraal (ARIZ) def. Nedim Suko/Jim Hendrikx (WASH) – 6-1
3. Gustaf Strom/Eric Padgham (ARIZ) def. Han-Chih Lin/Brett Pearson (WASH) – 7-6
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3
SINGLES:
1. Colton Smith (ARIZ) v. Han-Chih Lin (WASH) 6-2, 5-4 unf.
2. Jonas Ziverts (ARIZ) def. Cesar Bouchelaghem…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at University of Arizona Athletics…