Arizona men’s tennis star Colton Smith still has months to go in his collegiate career, but the All-American is already turning heads at the professional level.
Smith advanced in the Indian Wells Open men’s singles bracket Wednesday, defeating Flavio Cobolli 3-6, 6-2, 6-2. The victory marks Smith’s first win in an ATP Masters 1000 draw.
Indian Wells, played annually in the Coachella Valley, is unofficially referred to as tennis’ fifth Grand Slam.
For Smith to even qualify for the main event is an enormous accompaniment as a collegiate player. Smith advanced to the main draw Tuesday by defeating Patel Kotov 6-3, 7-6 (10) in a qualifier.
Smith followed that up Wednesday with the biggest win of his tennis career. Cobolli entered the Round of 132 match as the No. 40 seed.
After dropping the opener, Smith put away Cobolli convincingly in the next two sets.
The victory was made sweeter as March 5 happens to be Smith’s birthday.
Smith will face fellow American Alex Michelsen in the Round of 64 Friday at a time to be announced. Michelsen, the No. 31 seed, reached the fourth round of the Australian Open earlier this year.
Smith’s participation at Indian Wells does come at a cost. He will miss Arizona’s home matches this weekend against St. John’s, NAU and Tulsa. The No. 7 ranked Wildcats are 11-1 on the season.
Smith, the No. 3 ranked singles player in the country, has a 15-2 record.