New Mexico State University Athletics

2017-18: Spring: Helped lead NM State to its third WAC Tournament title in four years and fifth NCAA Tournament appearance in program history…earned First-Team All-WAC honors in singles and second-team honors in doubles with teammate Stijn de Haan…finished the year 24-11 overall in singles, 3-1 in WAC play, and 21-11 overall in doubles play with de Haan – including a 4-1 mark in conference action…also took home WAC All-Tournament honors after going 2-0 in tournament action…a three-time Academic All-WAC honoree...named WAC Doubles Team of the Week on Feb. 6...defeated DePaul’s (3/2) Luuk Wassenaar and UTSA’s (3/2) Joao Ceolin to go 2-0 at the H-E-B Tournament of Champions…defeated GCU’s (4/28) Lucas Grego 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 in NM State’s semifinal win…helped the Aggies sweep UMKC (4/29) in the championship match with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Hunter Clark. Fall: Reeled off 12-straight victories to start his junior season and won his flights at the Aggie Invitational (9/15-17), Wildcat Invitational (9/22-24) and Lobo Invitational (9/29-10/1)…defeated New Mexico’s Michael Tran 7-5, 6-2 in the semifinals of the Aggie Invitational (9/16)…took down three-straight players from GCU to win his flight at the Wildcat Invitational while also advancing to the finals in doubles play with de Haan…advanced to the round of 64 in singles and round of 32 in doubles at the ITA Regional Championships (Oct. 18-20).

2016-17: Spring: Guided NM State to its third-straight Western Athletic Conference regular-season title as a sophomore…tied for third on the team with a 20-9 overall mark in singles action, earning him Second-Team All-WAC honors…also collected second-team honors in doubles for the second-straight year, this time with Stijn de Haan…named to the WAC All-Tournament team after going 2-0 in singles action for NM State…ended the year winning 9-of-10 matches in singles play and 8-of-10 doubles matches…defeated Daniel Krtuik of Saint Mary’s at the Golden State Invitational 7-5, 6-2…tied for second on the team with a 4-1 record in league play. Fall: Opened the year 3-0 in singles play before falling in the semifinals to doubles teammate de Haan in the singles flight at the Aggie Invitational…reached the singles flight finals at the Arizona Wildcat Invitational before falling to teammate Sergi Espias…also reached the finals at the Balloon Fiesta Tournament in Albuquerque.

2015-16: Spring: Helped NM State earn its second-straight Western Athletic Conference championship and NCAA Tournament bid…earned Second-Team All-WAC honors at No. 3 doubles with teammate Enrique Asmar…named to Academic All-WAC Freshman/Transfer team...finished his freshman campaign 16-10 overall in singles and 4-1 in dual play…went 12-7 at No. 5 singles during dual play…wrapped up the year 3-1 at No. 3 doubles with Asmar…recorded first win in dual play against Ronzai Saurombe of Gonzaga (1/30) 6-2, 6-2…won five-straight singles matches twice, the first spanning from March 11-March 25 and the second from April 8-May 1…defeated Vinh Phan of UMKC (5/1) at No. 5 singles 7-6 (7-4), 6-1 in the WAC Tournament championship match…recorded his first doubles victory in dual play against Emilio Moreno and Raudhan O’Sullivan of Gonzaga (1/30)…won three-straight doubles matches from March 14-March 25, including a pair of wins over Seattle U (3/24) and UTRGV (3/25). Fall: Won his singles flight at the Balloon Fiesta Invite in his first collegiate tournament…teamed up with Christofer Goncalves to defeat Abilene Christian’s Sebastian Langdon and Cole Lawson 8-3 in the round of 16 of the same tournament.
 
Prior to NM State: Played in multiple junior circuit matches, mostly in Spain…defeated Ricardo Gomes 6-0, 6-0 at the Torneo Inernacional Cadete de Sanxenxo to advance to the quarterfinals…claimed the Gutysport Tennis Europe Boy’s 14 singles title with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Grigory Potemkin of Russia…reached the quarterfinals at the Calvia Open earlier in 2011 and finished the year 11-6.
 
Personal: Son of Pedro Benitez and Laura Zafra…has an older sister, Federica…majoring in business administration and marketing.