The Arizona men's tennis team opened its regular season in dominant fashion, shutting out Hawaii 7-0 Tuesday afternoon at the remodeled UH Tennis Complex in Honolulu, Hawaii.
The Wildcats' dual match victory marked the beginning of the team season after the preseason individual tournaments ended two months ago. The win extended No. 26 Arizona's all-time record against Hawaii to 5-0.
UA swept the six singles matches and won two of three doubles matches, thereby earning the only point at stake in doubles.
"It's a nice little warm-up," senior Paul Warkentin said. "It's tough to come to Honolulu and take the tennis serious. It's a testament to the team that everyone came out and took care of business. I'm very pleased with that."
In singles, junior Roger Matalonga defeated Dalibor Ptak, 6-4, 6-2, senior Colin O'Grady beat Bryon Weinberg, 6-3, 6-2, and freshman Bruno Alcala led Jarrod Diepraam, 6-2, 4-0 before he retired.
Warkentin took down Chad Faulk, 6-2, 6-3, sophomore Jason Labrosse defeated Derrick Lajola, 7-5, 6-1, and freshman Francois Vandermerwe took care of Travis Smith, 6-2, 6-2.
On the doubles side, the top UA doubles team of Matalonga and O'Grady defeated Ptak and Faulk, 8-2, and the freshman duo of Alcala and Vandermerwe swept Lajola and Smith, 8-0. Warkentin and junior Tim Mullane fell in the only Arizona loss of the day, a 9-7 defeat to Weinberg and Diepraam.
"The team played real well," Warkentin said. "Roger and Colin really stepped up, and they're playing at another level at this point. Three guys playing their first dual matches even stepped in and played real good. I think this match helped everyone get their kinks out."
Despite the success, Warkentin said it was tough to play in Hawaii due to the many differences from playing in the rest of the United States.
"It's a much different climate," he said. "It's just tough to concentrate with good-looking girls walking by your courts and people with surf boards. Still, for the most part it's pretty similar, so you get yourself together and take care of business."
Leading up to the match, Arizona spent the final week of winter break in Hawaii bonding as a team. The players spent time at the beach surfing and attending team dinners.
The squad also used the week to practice for the spring.
"I think we're all a little bit rusty, but I think the seven days in Hawaii helped out," O'Grady said. "We'll be better now."
O'Grady said the spring team season is more important than the fall's schedule of individual tournaments.
"I don't put much stock into individual stuff," he said. "Team stuff is really what I'm looking forward to. The entire team's here so it's a different atmosphere. I like it better."
While the Wildcats' made their biggest strides in terms of camaraderie, they also got it done on the court.
"I think you always want to start out with a win to start the year," Warkentin said.