ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. –  Idaho men's tennis student-athletes Francisco Bascon and Matteo Masala will be playing for the ITA Mountain Region doubles championship on Monday after the tandem picked up a semifinal win over New Mexico on Sunday in Albuquerque.

Bascon and Masala become the third Idaho doubles team since 2011 to reach the championship match at the ITA Regionals. Not only did the duo clinch a spot in the championship match, but they also punched their ticket to the ITA National Championships in San Diego (Nov. 2-6). 

Bascon is no stranger to success at the regional tournament, as he will make his second finals appearance in doubles play for Idaho in four years after he and teammate Esteban Santibanez reached the title match in 2019. 

The Idaho pair opened their tournament run with a dominant 8-4 win over New Mexico State's Itay Feigin and Jordy Visser in the opening round.  

The unseeded duo had to go through the tournament's top-ranked team, No. 8 nationally, Franco Capalbo and Geronimo Busleiman of Utah in the round of 16. Bascon and Masala were up for the test, as they defeated the Utes, 8-6 to move on to the quarterfinals. A dominant 8-2 win over No. 8 seeded Justin Waldman and Nick Vroman (Air Force) followed for the Idaho tandem.

Tournament play moved to a best two-of-three format for the semifinals. The Vandals opened set one with a 7-6 (7) tiebreak win over New Mexico's Jan Pucalka and Alexander Maggs before they evened things up with a 6-3 win in set two. Bascon and Masala held on with a 10-7 victory in the final frame to punch their ticket to the finals. 

In the Lobo Doubles Draw, sophomore Francisco Gay and freshman Taiyo Kurata went a perfect 4-0 to win a tournament championship. The young Idaho duo put together strong performances throughout their four doubles matches, defeating teams from Air Force, Northern Arizona and Idaho State.  
 
Four Vandals earned a trip to the round of 32 in singles play, including Bascon advancing on to the round of 16. 

After falling in the opening round of singles play, Mario Duron fought his way through the consolation bracket. The native of Mexico earned three wins to clinch a spot in the title match before falling to Northern Arizona's Maikel de Boes in three sets (2-6, 7-5, 6-10).

Tomorrow's championship match will get underway at 9:30 a.m. PT, as Bascon and Masala go up against Utah's No.3 seeded Berk Bugarikj and Patrik Trhac. Fans can watch the match live here. 

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