Ojai, Calif. – The Utes secured a 4-1 victory against the UCLA Bruins on Thursday night at the Pac-12 Championships. This will be Utah’s first team to advance to the semifinal round in program history. The squad downed the Bruins for the first time at the championships and for the third time overall.
As doubles play began, Francisco Bastias and Bruno Caula quickly secured a win on court three, finishing 6-0 against Jeffrey Frankdin and Aadarsh Tripathi. On court one, Patrik Trhac and Berk Bugarikj fell 6-2, leaving the point to be decided on court two. Franco Capalbo and Geronimo Espin Busleiman pushed through their set and finished 6-4, awarding Utah with the first point.
Singles play was challenging, as UCLA tied the match 1-1 when Busleiman fell 6-3, 6-4 on court two. The Utes regained the advantage on court four when Bastias defeated Tripathi 6-4, 6-3, and had the match at 3-1 after Trhac finished 6-4, 6-3 on court six.
On court one, Capalbo finished the first set 6-1 and was tied 6-6 in the second. The tiebreaker resulted in a win for Utah and a clinched match as Capalbo came out victorious 7-6(7-3) in the final set.
Matches on courts four and five were unfinished.
UP NEXT
The Utes return to Libbey Park in Ojai, Calif. on Friday, Apr. 28, to face Arizona in the second round of play. The first serve will take place at 5 p.m. MT.
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UTAH 4, UCLA 1
Singles (2,3,6,1)
1. Franco Capalbo (UTAH) def. Patrick Zahraj (UCLA) 6-1, 7-6(7-3)
2. Giacomo Revelli (UCLA) def. Geronimo Espin Busleiman (UTAH) 6-3, 6-4
3. Francisco Bastias (UTAH) def. Aadarsh Tripathi (UCLA) 6-4, 6-3
4. Bruno Caula (UCLA) vs Azuma Visaya (UCLA) 6-2, 3-6, 1-2, unf.
5. Berk Bugarikj (UTAH) vs Gianluca Ballotta (UCLA) 6-7(4-7), 0-5, unf.
6. Patrik Trhac (UTAH) def. Jeffrey Fradkin (UCLA) 6-4, 6-3
Doubles (3,1,2)
1. Tmothy Li/Giacomo Revelli (UCLA) def. Patrik Trhac/Berk Bugarikj (UTAH) 6-2
2. Franco Capalbo/Geronimo Espin Busleiman (UTAH) def. Gianluca Ballotta/Partick Zahraj (UCLA) 6-4
3. Francisco Bastias/Brunp Caula (UTAH) def. Jeffrey Frankdin/Aadarsh Tripathi (UCLA) 6-0