By
Lindsey Manroel
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Wildcats disappoint in Thunderbird Invitational
Unfortunately for the Arizona men's tennis team, the Wildcats could only send one player to the semifinals in consolation play while competing on Sun Devil territory.
The UA squad traveled to Tempe this past weekend where they competed among some of the more elite players in NCAA tennis.
The Thunderbird Invitational - which included Arkansas, Auburn, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Clemson, Florida Gulf Coast, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi State, San Diego and Arizona State - rounded out a group of tough competition.
"I thought it was the strongest competition we've faced all year," junior Johnathon Brozyna said. "It was a lot tougher than I expected, but I think that we measured up really well against them. It was a good level of competition and a good tournament."
Despite a first round loss to Mississippi State, 6-0, 6-1 that sent Tommy Lloyd to the consolation round, the UA sophomore advanced to the semifinals, picking up wins against Ted Brughardt, 6-3, 6-0 and Robert Boewer, 6-0, 6-3-, both from San Diego.
Lloyd's quest for a berth in the finals was snapped when he faced Clemson's Marko Gojanokic in the semifinals. After putting up a strong fight, Lloyd was defeated, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
"Tommy had a tough first round draw to a player who plays in the top-10 program," assistant coach Bob Helmig said. "He got a little bit of a slow start but was able to get things going. There were a lot of missed opportunities. He fought hard but just wasn't able to take advantage of the opportunities at the right time."
Although he could not earn a berth in the consolation championships, Lloyd was satisfied with his overall performance.
"I played a pretty solid guy in the first, round but I played a lot better in the back draw," Lloyd said. "I was pretty tired and worn out and it was tough mentally and physically. But I thought I played well - the competition was an eye-opening experience."
Before heavy rain Friday forced the tournament to be postponed until Saturday, junior Steven Capriati and freshman Whi Kim were both able to pick up first round wins in the 32-player main draw.
For Capriati, who was fighting a cold all weekend, the rain delay until Saturday morning served as an advantage for the UA junior.
"Steven had a tough first round win against Clemson," Helmig said. "He was fighting off a cold, and the rain delay only helped him since he didn't have to play until Saturday."
Capriati was later eliminated by Arkansas' Oskar Johansson, 6-4, 6-1.
In doubles play, UA's two teams both found difficulty in producing a win, despite battling close competition.
Although they were able to defeat Minnesota State, the duo of Lloyd and freshman Carl Hagman fell to Auburn, 8-6 in the quarterfinals.
Capriati and Kim picked up a close second round victory against San Diego, 9-8, but were unsuccessful in the quarterfinals. The two were closely defeated by Mississippi State, 9-7.
"We were happy with the doubles," Helmig said. "It's still early in the season and we're still experimenting with teams. But Capriati and Kim played some big time tennis against some tough teams."
Although UA fell short of bringing home a championship, Helmig said that the squad had a good showing for their second tournament of the fall season.
"It was a very tough draw," Helmig said. "Conditioning and skill wise we were there. It is just going to be about getting more confident in our game, using our strengths more often and being more tactical on the court."
