While the final day of the Pac-12/SEC Showdown in Los Angeles was a washout, it was warm and dry at the indoor facilities in Norman and Tulsa.
Wake Forest was coming off a tough loss on Friday to #25 Oklahoma State but the Demon Deacons made up for it today by taking out #2 Oklahoma. Wake played a solid doubles point as its #2 team of Petros Chrysochos and Jon Ho ran away with a quick 6-1 win at #2. Wake’s #1 team of Christian Seraphim and Skander Mansouri broke the Axel Alvarez serve to go up 2-0 but Alvarez and Spencer Papa broke back to make it 2-1. It stayed on serve until Wake broke Spencer Papa’s 5-6 service game on the deciding point to take the match 7-5 and give Wake the usually all-important doubles point. The match at #3 was on serve when Wake got the clincher at #1.
Oklahoma was playing without its #2 singles starter, Andrew Harris, since he’s still recovering from knee tendonitis so everyone except Axel Alvarez had to shift up a spot in the lineup. OU had to do the same thing last week so it wasn’t a surprise to any of the guys.
Wake came out strong in singles and with Skander Mansouri, Petros Chrysochos, Romain Bogaerts, and Christian Seraphim taking first sets at 1, 2, 3, and 6 while Oklahoma’s Florin Bragusi and Maxime Mora claimed the opening set at 4 and 5.
Petros Chrysochos was the first time finish as he took out Spencer Papa 6-2, 6-2 at #2 in a match that only lasted 55 minutes.
Christian Seraphim made it 3-0 Deacs as he beat Andre Biro 6-4, 6-3 at #6 in 1 hour and 15 minutes. Seraphim fell behind 2-0 in the opening set before getting it back on serve and taking it from there.
Wake Forest senior Romain Bogaerts clinched the win with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Alex Ghilea at #3. Bogaerts jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the first set before Ghilea stormed back to take 4 straight games to even it at 5-5. Bogaerts held for 6-5 and then broke Ghilea to take the set 7-5. Bogaerts jumped out a 5-0 lead in the second set before Ghilea held to make it 5-1. Bogaerts double-faulted at 30-30 but hit back-to-back forehand winners to close out the match and clinch Wake Forest’s upset win.
They played the remaining matches out with OU’s Maxime Mora beating Dennis Uspensky 7-5, 6-3 at #5, Wake’s Skander Mansouri beating Oklahoma’s Axel Alvarez 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-4 at #1, and Oklahoma’s Florin Bragusi getting 6-4, 4-5 retirement win over Wake’s Jon Ho at #4.
Mansouri was actually in position to get the fourth point for Wake Forest when he had a pair of match points on Axel Alvarez’s 4-5 service game in the second set. On the 30-40 point Mansouri was in control of the point but had his shot hit off the net cord and kick wide and then on the deciding point he went for a winner off Alvarez’s second serve but missed wide.
Tony Bresky was obviously happy with his team’s performance after coming off a tough loss on Friday.
“Great rebound today from our loss on Friday. Oklahoma State is a very good team, much better then their ranking….we didn’t play poorly, just lost a lot of big points and they out played us in the big moments. We have a lot of guys on our team that want to play pro tennis so we discussed rebounding from losses. Today we came out with the same energy and focus. Our doubles continues to improve and it showed today. We knew Oklahoma was playing without one of their best players and even though we felt confident it was still important to get over the hump of beating one of the best teams in the nation”
A big shoutout to Oklahoma for getting this match and a few others lined up to be broadcast on Fox Sports Oklahoma/Fox College Sports Central/Fox Sports Go. I watched the feed from my hotel room in LA, since the matches out there got rained out, and I thoroughly enjoyed the broadcast. The announcers stayed on top of the action and went to split screens when necessary to make sure the viewers didn’t miss any key points.
3. Romain Bogaerts/Dennis Uspensky (WF) vs. Maxime Mora/Florin Bragusi (OU) 5-4*, unf.
Match Notes
Wake Forest 5-1, 0-0 ACC; National ranking #11
Oklahoma 2-1, 0-0 Big 12; National ranking #2
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (2,6,3,5,4,1) Post-Match Quote from Wake Forest head coach Tony Bresky: Great rebound today from our loss on Friday. Oklahoma state is a very good team, much better then their ranking….we didn’t play poorly, just lost a lot of big points and they out played us in the big moments. We have a lot of guys on our team that want to play pro tennis so we discussed rebounding from losses. Today we came out with the same energy and focus. Our doubles continues to improve and it showed today. We knew Oklahoma was playing without one of their best players and even though we felt confident it was still important to get over the hump of beating one of the best teams in the nation.
“First of all I think Wake played really well, head coach John Roddick said. “They deserve a lot of credit. They finished us off in doubles and they finished us off is singles. They did their job for sure. I think some of the things we have been talking about over the last few weeks were very evident today. Sometimes you need that experience to learn it. You would rather not learn it with a loss, but in this case that is what happened.
“With Andrew being out our guys are getting a lot of opportunities, Roddick said. “We have to find out which guys want them. I was disappointed because I don’t think with anyone out of our lineup our level should drop as much as it did. Our guys can learn from that. Getting Andrew back will be a big boost, but we should be a lot better for it with guys getting more experience and learning that they can step up. We had that learning curve, but we will see how we respond this week and into the weekend.
“Max did a good job listening to the game plan, Roddick said. “He did a lot of the things we worked on. That was one of the bright spots. He made the guy play and hit volleys. I think he did a really good job of competing and giving effort to execute the game plan he was given. That was a really good thing to see out of him.
Purdue finished out an excellent weekend in Tulsa with a thrilling 4-3 upset win over #23 Tulsa. Just one day earlier Purdue won another 4-3 thriller over #63 Wichita State in a match where Purdue dropped the doubles point but rebounded to win four singles matches.
Tulsa struck first with a 6-3 win at #3 doubles but Purdue evened it up with a 6-4 win at #2. Purdue’s Gergely Madarasz/Benjamin Ugarte clinched the doubles point with a 7-5 win at #1.
Purdue was rocking and rolling in singles and took five first sets but the Boilers could only close two of them in straight sets. Mateus Silva was off the court first with a 6-3, 6-4 win at #6 and Ricky Medinilla soon followed with a 7-5, 6-3 win at #3. Purdue just needed one of the remaining four courts and things looked good with the Boilers leading on two with the other two on serve in the third. However Tulsa wouldn’t go down without a fight as Mitchell Pritchard picked up a late break to beat Arthur Dobradin 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 at #5. Carlos Bautista followed suit by breaking Benjamin Ugarte to go up 5-3 in the third and then he served it out for a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 win at #3. Tulsa’s Francois Kellerman came back from a break down in the third set to beat Dominick Sochurek 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 at #4 and all of sudden it went from a 3-0 Purdue lead to a tie match.
The final match on court was at #1 between Purdue’s Gergely Madarasz and Tulsa’s Or Ram-Harel. Madarasz took the first set 7-6 but Ram-Harel took the second 6-0. Medarasz went up 4-1 in the third but Ram-Harel buckled down in front of the home faithful and evened it at 4-4. Each would hold two more times to push it to a match deciding tiebreak.
Ram-Harel hit a forehand winner on the opening point to get the early mini break and then he pushed his lead out to 3-0 after hitting a service winner and benefiting from a Medarasz forehand error. The crowd was hooting and hollering but Medarasz’s forehand started making its own noise and he reeled off six straight points to go ahead 6-3*. Medarasz tried to finish it off on the next point but he pushed a forehand long however he’d atone for his mistake on the next point with a whipping forehand winner to seal the Boilers upset win.
Purdue head coach Pawel Gadjzik talked about the team after a sensational weekend, “It was a full team effort against a very good Tulsa team. For some of our guys this was a first time to go on the road and compete in front of a rowdy crowd against a top 25 team and they did a great job handling the environment. We are improving from match to match and I’m excited to see where we will be in a few months.”
The win over Tulsa was Purdue’s 5th win of the year which doesn’t sound like much but it’s a big deal when you consider the fact that they only won 4 matches the previous year.
5. Arthur Dobradin (Purdue 12.11) def. Haru Inoue (WSU 12.32) 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
6. Mateus Silva (Purdue 12.85) def. Eddie Stoica (WSU 12.28) 6-2, 6-4 Match Notes: Purdue 4-1 Wichita State 4-2; National Ranking #63 Order of finish: Doubles (3, 1); Singles (1,4,6,2,3,5)
Rice opened its $8 million George R. Brown Tennis Complex last year and with the new facility having 12 outdoor courts that meant Rice could hold both the men’s and women’s matches at the same time. A crowd of just under 500 filed in on Sunday to see the Rice men and women battle the LSU men and women in an event dubbed Double Trouble II.
Both teams fought hard against its higher ranked competition but while the women come short losing 5-2 the fans left happy after the Rice men pulled out a 4-3 win. It was Rice’s first win over an SEC opponent since they beat Alabama back in 2011.
LSU took the doubles point but Rice took four opening sets and managed to finish three of them in straight sets as Adam Gustafsson, Jake Hansen, and David Warren won at #3, #4, and #5. LSU picked up a pair of straight set wins from Jordan Daigle and Gabor Csonka at #1 and #6 so it all came down to #2.
Rice’s Tommy Bennett took the first set 7-6(5) over Justin Butsch but Butsch took the second 7-5. The third set was all Bennett as he rolled 6-1 to clinch the Rice win. Below is a clip from Rice with quotes from Rice men’s coach Efe Ustundag along with Tommy Bennett. The next clip below that is Rice women’s coach Elizabeth Schmidt talking about the women’s match along with her thoughts on the event.
“This was really the first big match he’s played since he beat Koepfer two years ago, Rice head coach Efe Ustundag said. “He’s had to sit out a long time and suffer through not playing. There was a time when maybe he lost focus and where tennis was among his priorities, but to gain it back-physically and mentallyit was a big, big day for him.
“I’m so happy that I can be in that situation, “Bennett said. “I wasn’t even sure at the beginning of last semester that I would be able to play this season at the level that I just played there. “
“My hat is off to each and every one of them. Ustundag said. “The guys showed so much grit today. I’m really proud of the effort they showed today, the team unity and the way they cheered for each other and the way the executed when we had to.
“We have to get back to work because this is a short week. We have head up to Ithaca, New York next week to take on two great indoor teams (Cornell and Northwestern). We don’t have too much time to cherish this, but we certainly will today, Ustandag stated.
#18 LSU 5, #31 Rice 2
1/31/2016 at Houston, TX (George R. Brown Tennis Center)
Northwestern beat its fourth Top 50 opponent this season by going to Durham and beating #24 Duke 5-2. Northwestern clinched the doubles point with a come from behind win at #2. Duke’s #2s served for the match up 5-4 but Northwestern broke back and ended up taking it in a tiebreak. It was the third consecutive match that Duke dropped the doubles point and they served for the match in two of them.
Northwestern’s Strong Kirchheimer double-bageled Catalin Mateas at #3 to put Northwestern up 2-0 then Sam Shropshire and Alp Horoz gave the Wildcats the final two points it needed to clinch the win.
They planed the remaining matches out with Duke getting wins from Nicolas Alvarez and Adrian Chamdani at #1 and #5 while Northwestern added another point from Fedor Baev at #4.
#21 Northwestern 5, #24 Duke 2
Jan 31, 2016 at Durham, N.C. (Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. #12 Nicolas Alvarez (DU 14.17) def. #16 Konrad Zieba (NU 14.28) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
2. #50 Sam Shropshire (NU 13.68) def. #102 TJ Pura (DU 13.38) 6-3, 7-5
“Great team win today,” head coach Arvid Swan said. “We competed extremely well in singles and doubles. Two doubles teams came up big to clinch the doubles point, and we kept the momentum going into singles.”
“That was a tough loss,” head coach Ramsey Smith said. “I was impressed with Northwestern. I thought they played extremely well. I’m really happy with the way we finished with Adrian getting a win and Nico defeating a top-20 player.”
“Doubles set the tone,” Smith said. “In singles, I thought we had some chances early across the board and didn’t capitalize on some of them. I just thought we lost a little bit of energy and belief.”
“It was a great effort from Nico,” Smith said. “He had a plan going in and executed it. He stuck with it when things weren’t going well and got a big win for him personally. I think that’s really going to springboard him through the rest of the spring. _____________________________________________________
In the battle of the color green it was the Dartmouth Big Green upsetting the Tulane Green Wave 4-3. Tulane won the doubles point for the sixth time in six tries by winning at #1 and #3 but Dartmouth quickly tied it up with a 6-1, 6-0 win from George Wall at #5. Tulane retook the lead and was a point away from the win after Dominik Koepfer and Constantin Schmitz won at #1 and #2 but Dartmouth wasn’t done yet. The Big Green evened it at 3-3 with wins from Max Fliegner and Max Schmidt at #4 and #6 so it came down to a third set at #3.
Tulane’s Alex Van Cott took the first set 6-3 but Dartmouth’s Brendan Tannenbaum got the second 6-3. Tannenbaum broke on the deciding point to go up 3-1 and would then break again on the deciding point to win it. Below is a clip of match point from Dartmouth’s twitter and below that is a picture they tweeted out showing a few of its 7th Fans. It’s really cool to see what a lot of schools are doing to draw crowds – keep it up everybody!!
“Our team made a statement this weekend, head coach Chris Drake said. “To beat teams that are as solid and well-coached as Tulane and Drake, especially when it comes down to a last-match-on-the-court situation on consecutive days, you have to play with conviction and belief. I thought we did that this weekend.
“It is difficult to get wins against good teams, and when you fall behind 1-0 after the doubles point, it becomes extremely tough. I am very proud of this group of guys for being able to do that twice this weekend against two really good teams.
“Tough match today,” Tulane men’s tennis head coach Mark Booras said. “We knew they were going to be the same level as Harvard and the other teams we’ve played this month, so we were expecting another barn burner and got one. Dartmouth played great to come from behind and take it from us. They fought like crazy and deserved the win.”
“We matched up really well with them, but unfortunately, a couple of our guys didn’t show up in singles at the level we’ve come to expect from them,” Booras explained. “So we gave away a couple of opportunities to put another point on the board. Hopefully, they will take this loss to heart and come together well for our next opportunity.”
A day after losing a 4-3 match to Tulane, the Crimson flipped the script and beat #37 Drake 4-3. Drake won the doubles point with wins at #1 and #2 and looked good early on in singles. The Bulldogs took the opening sets at #3, #4, and #5 and also served for the set at #1 and #2 but got broke and then dropped both of those sets in the tiebreak.
Drake’s Ben Clark was the first to finish as he pulled off a UTR upset over Andy Zhou at #5 winning 6-3, 6-2. Harvard answered with straight set wins from Nicky Hu and Kelvin Lam at #1 and #6 to tie it up at 2-2. Drake retook the lead with a 7-5, 7-5 win from Calum MacGeoch at #4 but Harvard’s Sebastian Beltrame tied it back up with a 7-6, 6-3 win at #2. Harvard’s Brian Yeung would take the final match left on court 6-4 in the third to give the Crimson the win.
#33 Harvard 4, #37 Drake 3
Jan 31, 2016 at Cambridge, Mass. (Murr Tennis Center)
“It was a great weekend of tennis at the Murr,” said associate head coach Andrew Rueb. “We faced some top national competition and pushed them to the limits. The comeback win against Drake was a real clutch performance by the guys – our third 4-3 win this year. Kudos to Brian Yeung for pulling out the decider with everyone watching. Coach Fish and I are very excited about the improvements the team is making day by day. Now it is on to Nashville for a battle with Memphis and Vanderbilt.”
“Great effort from the boys again today. Once again, we took the doubles point but failed to capitalize on the early lead,” Drake head coach Davidson Kozlowski said.
“We got a great spark from Ben Clark, after reinserting him into the singles lineup. He played flawless in a straight set win,” Kozlowski said. “It looked like we were in great position with a 2-0 lead and first set wins on three courts and then serving for the first set on two other courts. However, again we failed to fully take advantage of the position we put ourselves in.”
“We have a very determined group that is dedicated to the process, so we’ll manage this and continue to improve as our best tennis is ahead of us,” said Kozlowski. ___________________________________________________________
#8 Ohio State won a close doubles point over #26 Texas and then looked like it was going to be a blowout after they took five opening sets in singles but Texas battled back to make it a match. Despite the Longhorns comeback, Ohio State still pulled through with wins from Mikael Torpegaard, Herkko Pollanen, and Ralf Steinbach at #1, #4, and #5 with Pollanen providing the clincher.
#8 Ohio State 4, #26 Texas 0
Jan 31, 2016 at Columbus, Ohio (Varsity Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. #7 Mikael Torpegaard (OSU 14.43) def. George Goldhoff (UT 13.69) 6-4, 7-6 (1)
2. #10 Hugo Di Feo (OSU 14.20) vs. #94 Harrison Scott (UT 13.49) 6-2, 5-7, 1-2, unf
3. Rodrigo Banzer (UT 13.53) vs. #19 Chris Diaz (OSU 13.95) 4-6, 6-4, 3-1, unf
4. #25 Herkko Pollanen (OSU 13.61) def. Adrian Ortiz (UT 13.73) 1-6, 6-4, 6-3
5. Ralf Steinbach (OSU 13.80) def. #114 Michael Riechmann (UT 13.05) 6-3, 6-3
6. Martin Joyce (OSU 13.73) vs. Julian Zlobinsky (UT 12.72) 6-3, 5-7, 4-2, unf
2. Chris Diaz/Hugo Di Feo (OSU) def. Julian Zlobinsky/George Goldhoff (UT) 6-4
3. Rodrigo Banzer/Harrison Scott (UT) def. #24 Mikael Torpegaard/Herkko Pollanen (OSU) 6-4
Match Notes
Texas 4-4; National ranking #26
Ohio State 7-0; National ranking #8
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (5,1,4)
Official: Marcus Lee T-2:35 A-222 _________________________________________________________
The defending national champion Virginia Cavaliers opened up its title defense with a 6-1 win over #51 Kentucky. Virginia got swept the doubles point then picked up straight set singles wins from Thai-Son Kwiatkowski, Collin Altamirano, Mac Styslinger, J.C. Aragone and Henrik Wiersholm. Kentucky got its lone point when William Bushamuka knocked off the defending NCAA singles champ Ryan Shane 7-6, 6-3.
#1 Virginia 6, #51 Kentucky 1
Jan 31, 2016 at Charlottesville, Va. (Boyd Tinsley Courts)
Singles competition
1. #77 William Bushamuka (UK 13.97) def. #11 Ryan Shane (VA 14.76) 7-6, 6-3
“I thought it was a great start to our dual match season, said Virginia head coach Brian Boland. “I believe the guys were well-prepared in terms of the way that they trained as well as attending to the details we needed to the last few weeks. Kentucky was a phenomenal team and is going to have a great season. I thought we played really well against Kentucky and Eastern Kentucky was a good match for us. It was nice to get in a doubleheader where everyone had a chance to get in some matches for us as we work towards getting ready for ITA National Indoors here in Charlottesville in a couple of weeks.
“Doubles was unacceptable,” said fifth year head coach Cedric Kauffmann. “Our intensity out of the gate by our upperclassmen was just bad. Our two freshmen on the second court competed the best. The start of singles was much better. Overall, we didn’t play like we can, but we put ourselves in a position to get ahead. We just couldn’t convert. We have a lot to work on. Back to work on Tuesday.”
“What a win by William, Kauffmann concluded. “Beating the defending NCAA champion on the road is a big deal. He is growing each week.”
“Again, I was really proud of William today on Court No. 1, taking out the defending NCAA champion, commented assistant coach Matt Emery. “He just played a solid match from start to finish and was the better player today.
“Ryotaro [Matsumura] played a great match against one of the best players in the country at No. 2. He was literally within inches of that match going the other way. He continues to improve each match and is consistently proving why he is one of the premier freshmen in the country.
“You have things to learn from every match, and this team loves to learn. I can’t wait to get back to work this week with these guys and get better.”
Oklahoma State finished off a perfect weekend with a 6-1 win over #22 Minnesota. The Cowboys overcame the loss of the doubles point by sweeping all 6 singles matches.
#25 Oklahoma State 6, #22 Minnesota 1
Jan 31, 2016 at Stillwater. Okla. (Greenwood Tennis Center)
“I’m happy the guys were able to bounce back and win all six courts after losing the doubles point,” coach Jay Udwadia said.
“Minnesota played really well in doubles, they came out hitting their shots and it wasn’t so much that we were playing flat it was more they were playing pretty well,” Udwadia said. “It’s going to happen once in a while because you’re going to run into a team that gets hot, but you just have to stay focused.”
“He’s playing with a lot of heart right now and showing good emotion on the court,” Udwadia said. “He’s a worker and he will always come ready to play.”
“Overall, it was a great match and we got to get ready for NC State because they’re going to come here ready to play,” Udwadia said.
1 Comment
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on Thu March 19, 2020 at 6:09 pm
The Fox Sports OK TV broadcast of Wake-OK was top-notch!
The Fox Sports OK TV broadcast of Wake-OK was top-notch!