ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. ­– The University of New Mexico tennis team has made some great additions to their squad in the offseason. The team finished ranked 69th in the country last season, and the addition of Arda Azkara should help them to approve. The 18-year-old, 5-foot-9 freshman from Turkey finished ranked 164th in the International Tennis Federation as of Oct. 11. He had ranked as high as 96th, breaking in to the top 100 on May 3, coming off winning the J3 Istanbul tournament on hard court on May 1. This was an improvement for Azkara, as he fell short in the same tournament earlier in the year, losing in the finals in April. Azkara had only made it to the quarterfinals in previous iterations of the tournament, so going to back-to-back finals is an impressive feat. He fell in the rankings due to a loss in the second round of the JB1 Klosters tournament in Switzerland on July 25. Despite falling in the rankings, Azkara joins the Lobos as the second highest ranked Turkish junior tennis player and had previously been ranked No. 1.

The signing of a potential top 100 junior player is a good sign for a Lobos team looking to improve from last season. Last season, the Lobos fell out early in the NCAA Division I Men’s Tennis Championships, only scraping out one win out of the six matches. They faced the eighth ranked Texas A&M, who would go on to the quarterfinals. The Lobos will try and get a better seed this year and adding Azkara could be a big help in both the talent and depth of the team.

The season has begun for the Lobos, and they have already played four tournaments so far. They played the ITA Fall Regional in Utah, the Wildcat Invitational in Arizona, The ITA All-American Championships in Oklahoma, and, most recently, the Gaucho Classic in California. The Lobos started off the season well, winning five of their six matches at the ITA All-American Championships.

Azkara participated in both the ITA All-American Championships and the Gaucho Classic, starting off the season well. At the ITA All-American Championships, Azkara won his first round of match against Ricardo Alban of UT-Arlington, winning in straight sets. He then dropped out in the second round, losing to Matt Hulme of Omaha in straight sets.

At the Gaucho Classic, Azkara won his first match in straight sets against BYU’s Dominik Jakoljevic. Azkara played in the B bracket. Azkara also participated in the doubles side of the tournament. He and his partner, Alex Maggs, fell in the first round, losing to Cal Poly’s Joe Leather and Bastiaan Weststrate. Despite this loss, Azkara will continue to compete in the singles tournament and attempt to bring the Lobos their first championship of the season.

It remains to be seen where Azkara will play in the overall team lineup throughout the year, but his success early on is a good indicator that he will be an important player for the Lobos for the season and for seasons to come.

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