Tagged with: Baylor, Cal, Louisville, Stanford, TCU, Texas, UCLA, Wisconsin

For the second down in a row the Bay Area delivered some high quality but on Saturday the big winners were the visitors from the Lone Star State. TCU came into the weekend ranked just outside the top 30 with a 5-4 record but they’ll head to Santa Barbara three games over .500 after coming back from a 3-0 deficit to defeat No. 41 Stanford 4-3. TCU made a doubles lineup adjustment by dropping an ailing Reese Stalder from No. 1 to No. 3 and moving Cameron Norrie up from No. 3 to No. 1 in an attempt to find a way to sweep the top two courts. On Friday night against Cal, Stalder teamed with Jerry Lopez to defeat the top ranked doubles team of Filip Bergevi and Florian Lakat but during singles he was forced to retire with what appeared to be some kind of shoulder injury. 

Stanford’s No. 3 team of David Wilczynski and Brandon Sutter would take advantage of the situation and jump on Stalder and Gianni Mancini by breaking Stalder from 30/40 to go in front 3-1. Sutter held for 4-1 and then Stanford broke Mancini from 30/40 to make it 5-1. Wilczynski would serve it out on the no-ad point to give Stanford a 6-1 win. 

TCU’s newly formed No. 1 team of Jerry Lopez and Cameron Norrie, who hadn’t teamed together since March of last year, jumped out to an early lead after breaking Tom Fawcett from 30/40 to go up 1-0. TCU maintained the break lead with some routine holds until Fawcett and Yale Goldberg broke Lopez’s 4-3 service from 30/40 to even it at 4-4. TCU had two chances to break back after going up 30/40 on Fawcett’s serve but Fawcett hit back-to-back service winners to hold for 5-4. Norrie held at love for 5-5 and then he and Lopez broke Goldberg from 30/40 after Lopez ripped a return right down the middle which Fawcett was unable to put back in play. Lopez would serve it out from 40/15 to give TCU the 7-5 win. 

In the decider at No. 2 neither team would face a break point in the first five service games but TCU’s Alex Rybakov and Guillermo Nunez had two break opportunities as Michael Genender served at 2-3 (30/40). Rybakov went long on a second serve forehand return to bring up the no-ad point and then Genender served into Nunez’s body and Kumar swatted his return away to get the hold for 3-3. The next break opportunity came when Nunez served at 5-5 (30/40) and Stanford would cash in after Rybakov netted a high volley. Stanford’s Sameer Kumar tried to serve it out but after going up 40/30 TCU would come back to break on the no-ad point after a Genender volley sailed long. TCU went ahead 3-1 in the tiebreak but Stanford came back and won the next six point to close it out 7-3. 

After dropping the doubles point TCU knew it’d have to sweep the top four spots to win because Stanford was going to be a big favorite at both No. 5 and No. 6. As expected the bottom two courts went pretty quickly. Stalder was unable to put much pace on his serve and David Wilczynski ate him up. Wilczynski jumped out to a 4-0 lead and then he’d add a third break to take the first set 6-1. Stalder was able to hold in his first service game of the second set but he wouldn’t do it again as Wilczynski won the last five games to close it out 6-1, 6-1 in 57 minutes.

Stanford’s Brandon Sutter extended the lead to 3-0 with a routine straight set win over Gianni Mancini at No. 6. Sutter jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the opening set and took the set 6-2. Mancini held for 2-1 in the second but Sutter won the final five games to take it 6-2, 6-2 in 1 hour and 2 minutes. 

Despite trailing 3-0, TCU was actually in pretty good shape because they had set leads on three of the four remaining courts plus Cameron Norrie had just earned a split at No. 1 after taking the second set 6-1. 

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Alex Rybakov would officially start the comeback with a straight set win over Sameer Kumar at No. 2. Rybakov took his first lead of the match after breaking Kumar on the no-ad point for 4-3 but the lead was short-lived as Kumar would break back from 15/40 to even it at 4-4. Rybakov would break right back from 30/40 to go up 5-4 and then he’d have a set point on the no-ad point but Kumar would finish off a long rally with a forehand winner to break for 5-5. After each held from 40/30, Kumar would go up 4-2 in the tiebreak but Rybakov took the next four to go up 6-4. Rybakov had a chance to close it out on his serve but Kumar was able to force a backhand error to make it 6-5. Rybakov did close it out on the next point after Kumar netted a forehand about 10 shots into the rally. After a 60 minute first set the second set flew by in just 20 minutes as Rybakov took it 6-0 with Kumar only winning seven total points in the set. 

Cameron Norrie would put TCU’s second point on the board with a three-set win over Tom Fawcett at No. 1. Fawcett broke Norrie on the no-ad point to go up 5-3 in the first and then he served out the set from love to take it 6-3. Norrie jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second set but Fawcett broke back to make it 2-1. Norrie broke back on the no-ad point for 3-1 and then he held on the no-ad point for 4-1. Norrie broke again and then served out the set at love to take it 6-1. The third set started off with three consecutive breaks but after Norrie held for 3-1 it was game over and 15 minutes later he’d close it out 3-6, 6-1, 6-1. 

Despite still trailing 3-2, TCU would close out the match in the next five minutes but originally it looked like it would take much longer when Guillermo Nunez trailed Michael Genender 5-2 in the second set. Nunez held for 3-5 and then he broke Genender on the no-ad point with a drop volley that was just out of Genender’s reach. Nunez held for 5-5 and then he broke Genender at love to go up 6-5. Nunez had a match point on the no-ad point but an errant forehand sent the set to a tiebreak. Genender went up *3-0 in the tiebreak but Nunez took the next two to make it 3-2*. Genender won both points on Nunez’s serve to go up 5-2 but Nunez came back to take the next five to close it out 6-1, 7-6(5).

The match was tied at 3-3 and TCU’s Jerry Lopez was serving for the match at No. 4 up 7-5, 5-4 (30/15) against Jack Barber. Barber had a chance to win the first set when Lopez served at 4-5 (40/40) but he netted a forehand a few shots into the rally to make it 5-5. Lopez then broke at love for 6-5 and then he served out the set from 40/15 to take it 7-5. In the second set Lopez had a break point on Barber’s 2-2 service game but Barber held and then Barber had two break points on Lopez’s 2-3 service game but Lopez held for 3-3. Lopez broke on the no-ad point, after Barber netted a forehand, to go up 4-3 and then he held at love for 5-3. Barber held from 40/15 for 4-5 but Lopez served it out from 40/15 to clinch the match with a 7-5, 6-4 win. 

 

 

#31 TCU 4, #41 Stanford 3
Mar 11, 2017 at Palo Alto, Calif. (Taube Family Tennis Stadium)
Singles competition
1. #23 Cameron Norrie (TCU) def. #13 Tom Fawcett (STAN) 3-6, 6-1, 6-1
2. #84 Alex Rybakov (TCU) def. Sameer Kumar (STAN) 7-6 (7-5), 6-0
3. #93 Guillermo Nuñez (TCU) def. #92 Michael Genender (STAN) 6-1, 7-6 (7-5)
4. #110 Jerry Lopez (TCU) def. #89 Jack Barber (STAN) 7-5, 6-4
5. David Wilczynski (STAN) def. Reese Stalder (TCU) 6-1, 6-1
6. Brandon Sutter (STAN) def. Gianni Mancini (TCU) 6-2, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. Jerry Lopez/Cameron Norrie (TCU) def. Tom Fawcett/Yale Goldberg (STAN) 7-5
2. Sameer Kumar/Michael Genender (STAN) def. #27 Alex Rybakov/Guillermo Nuñez (TCU) 7-6 (7-3)
3. David Wilczynski/Brandon Sutter (STAN) def. Gianni Mancini/Reese Stalder (TCU) 6-1
Match Notes:
TCU 7-4; National ranking #31
Stanford 7-4; National ranking #41
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (5,6,2,1,3,4)

Post-Match Quotes from head coach David Roditi via TCU’s recap
“Wow! What a comeback! As a coach, I couldn’t be more proud. There was only one way we were able to win that match and we all knew it and our top four guys came through. (Cameron) Norrie coming back and (Alex) Rybakov winning that first set breaker was a big momentum swing for us and I felt our energy surge after that. Now we have a day of rest to get healthy and continue our California road trip at a tough UCSB team on Monday. We will enjoy this win and get ready tomorrow. I felt the alumni support and our Frog fans here made a big difference, especially at (Jerry) Lopez’s court.”

 

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The other half of the Big 12/Pac 12 Challenge took place in Berkeley with No. 6 Cal trying to shake off back-to-back losses while No. 8 Texas was trying to rebound from a Friday loss to Stanford. Texas made a change to its doubles lineup, compared to Friday, by moving Colin Markes up to No. 2 to play with Yuya Ito while Julian Zlobinsky dropped down to No. 3 to play with Christian Sigsgaard. Cal had to switch up its No. 2 team due to the absence of Billy Griffith (reoccurring ab injury) so Connor Heap who normally doesn’t play doubles had to fill in. Markes and Ito rolled to a 6-1 win at No. 2 which was actually the clincher because Zlobinsky and Sigsgaard won 6-2 at No. 3. Texas had the early lead but Cal came storming back in singles.

Cal was also without Griffith in singles but they still took five opening sets. Filip Bergevi cruised to a 6-1 first set at No. 3 but Texas’s George Goldhoff went up 3-0 in the second plus he led 0/40 on Bergevi’s serve. Bergevi came back to hold for 1-3, he broke from 30/40 for 2-3, held from 40/15 for 3-3, broke on the no-ad point with a forehand winner for 4-3, and then he made it five in a row by holding on the no-ad point with a service winner for 5-3. Goldhoff held at love for 4-5 but Bergevi did the same to close it out 6-1, 6-4. 

Texas retook the lead at 2-1 when Rodrigo Banzer defeated Connor Heap in straight sets at No. 6. Heap actually led the first set 4-0 but Banzer reeled off six straight to take it 6-4. Banzer went up a break at 4-2 in the second set and three games later he’d serve it out from 40/15 to win it 6-4, 6-3. 

Cal senior Florian Lakat tied the match at 2-2 with a straight set win over Christian Sigsgaard at No. 1. Lakat broke Sigsgaard from 15/40 to go up 2-1 in the first and he’d maintain that break lead until he got broke at 5-4 from 15/40. The set would go to a tiebreak and Lakat would win it 7-5 after Sigsgaard netted a forehand while serving at 5-6. Lakat went up 2-0 in the second but Sigsgaard broke back for 2-1. Lakat broke back and wouldn’t lose another game and finished off Sigsgaard 7-6, 6-1. 

Texas sophomore Harrison Scott put Texas back in front 3-2 with a three-set win over Andre Goransson at No. 2. After splitting sets, Scott broke for 3-2 in the third but then he’d let a 40/0 lead slip away and get broke to even it at 3-3. Scott broke back from 30/40 to go up 4-3 and then he’d come back from 30/40 down to hold for 5-3. Two games later he’d serve it out from 40/30, after Goransson missed a forehand wide, to win it 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.

Cal freshman Bjorn Hoffmann tied the match at 3-3 with a three-set win over Texas freshman Yuya Ito at No. 4. Hoffmann came back from a break down to take the first set 7-6(2) and then in the second set he came back from 4-1 down to even it at 4-4. Ito held for 5-4 and then he broke Hoffmann from 30/40 to take the set 6-4. In the third set Hoffmann broke Ito from 15/40 to go up 2-1 and then he’d break him again from 30/40 to close out the match 7-6, 4-6, 6-3. 

The match decider came at No. 5 between Texas redshirt freshman Leo Telles and Cal junior JT Nishimura. Nishimura took the opening set in a tiebreak and then he had three match points when Telles served at 4-5 (15/40). Nishimura pushed a forehand long to make it 30/40 and then a Telles service winner brought up the no-ad point. On the no-ad point, Telles kept Nishimura on the run and then he followed a forehand to the net and finished with a nice backhand volley winner to hold for 5-5. Telles went ahead 6-5 after breaking Nishimura from 30/40 and then he served out the set on the no-ad point after Nishimura came to the net and missed a low volley well wide. 

Telles broke from 30/40 to start the third set and then he came back from 30/40 down to hold for 2-0. Telles broke at love for 4-1 and then he had two match points on Nishimura’s 1-5 service game but the Cal junior managed to hold for 2-5. Telles would serve it out on the no-ad point, after Nishimura sent a second serve return long, and that was the match – Texas wins 4-3. 

 

#8 Texas 4, #6 California 3
March 11, 2017, in Berkeley, Calif. (Hellman Tennis Complex)
Doubles competition
1. No. 1 Filip Bergevi/Florian Lakat (Cal) vs. Leonardo Telles/George Goldhoff (Texas), *4-3 (30/30), unfinished
2. Yuya Ito/Colin Markes (Texas) def. Andre Goransson/Connor Heap (Cal), 6-1*
3. Christian Sigsgaard/Julian Zlobinsky (Texas) def. Bjorn Hoffmann/J.T. Nishimura (Cal), 6-2
Singles competition
1. No. 14 Florian Lakat (Cal) def. No. 12 Christian Sigsgaard (Texas), 7-6(5), 6-1
2. No. 70 Harrison Scott (Texas) def. No. 30 Andre Goransson (Cal), 3-6, 6-2, 6-4
3. No. 109 Filip Bergevi (Cal) def. George Goldhoff (Texas), 6-1, 6-4
4. Bjorn Hoffmann (Cal) def. No. 34 Yuya Ito (Texas), 7-6(2), 4-6, 6-3
5. No. 108 Leonardo Telles (Texas) def. J.T. Nishimura (Cal), 6-7(6), 7-5, 6-2^
6. Rodrigo Banzer (Texas) def. Connor Heap (Cal), 6-4, 6-3
Match Notes
Texas 14-4; National ranking #8
Cal 9-4; National ranking #6
Order of Finish: Doubles (3,2) Singles (3,6,1,2,4,5)

Post-Match Quotes from head coach Michael Center via Texas’s recap
This was a great win for us today. We played tremendous doubles, some of the best I’ve seen this year. Colin Markes stepped up and really contributed. I was really pleased with what I saw there in doubles. We were down a while in the singles. Cal has a heck of a team, and we were battling all the way through with them. Leonardo (Telles) saved some match points, and Harrison (Scott) did an incredible job in beating Andre Goransson, a former No. 1 player in the country.

Leonardo played a great third set to finish the match. It was a really great team effort this afternoon. We’re excited to get this win against a very good Cal team. We’ll come home and get ready for No. 1 Ohio State on Wednesday.

Post-Match Quotes from Cal’s recap
“We’ve had some tough matches with some very strong teams lately, and we’ve been one or two points from victory in all of them,” Cal head coach Peter Wright said. “We have tough guys on this team who are motivated and determined to learn and improve from every match, win or lose, so I’m feeling good about where we’re headed.” 

 

 

There was a top 15 showdown in Southern California between UCLA and Baylor but this one was all one-way traffic as UCLA rocked Baylor 4-0. Martin Redlicki served out the match at No. 1 doubles to give UCLA a 6-4 win and then Max Cressy served it out at No. 3 to clinch the doubles point with a 6-3 win.

UCLA won five first sets in singles and Logan Staggs, Martin Redlicki, and Gage Brymer each won in straight sets with Brymer clinching the win at No. 1.

 

 

#13 UCLA 4, #9 Baylor 0
Mar 11, 2017 at Los Angeles, CA (Sunset Canyon Tennis Courts)
Doubles competition
1. #26 Redlicki/Zhu (UCLA) def. Benitez/Little (BU) 6-4
2. Brymer/Rapp (UCLA) vs. Tchoutakian/Frantzen (BU) 5-4, unfinished
3. Cressy/Goldberg (UCLA) def. Schretter/Bendeck (BU) 6-3
Singles competition
1. #11 Gage Brymer (UCLA) def. #15 Juan Benitez (BU) 6-4, 6-2
2. #42 Martin Redlicki (UCLA) def. #35 Max Tchoutakian (BU) 6-4, 6-2
3. Evan Zhu (UCLA) vs. #81 Johannes Schretter (BU) 6-4, 4-3, unfinished
4. Logan Staggs (UCLA) def. Will Little (BU) 6-1, 6-4
5. Austin Rapp (UCLA) vs. Jimmy Bendeck (BU) 6-3, 5-6, unfinished
6. Maxime Cressy (UCLA) vs. Constantin Frantzen (BU) 5-7, 4-4, unfinished
Match Notes:
Baylor 13-3; National ranking #9
UCLA 9-4; National ranking #13
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (4,2,1)
T-2:00

 

 

 

Louisville won its seventh straight match and beat Notre Dame for the second time in the last three with a come from behind 4-3 win. Louisville jumped out to the early 1-0 lead with doubles wins at 1 and 2 and the five of six singles matches would finish in straight sets with Notre Dame picking up wins at 2, 5, and 6 while Louisville won at 1 and 3.

Notre Dame’s Grayson Broadus had a 5-3 lead in the third set Louisville’s George Hedley but Hedley would rally to win the final four games to clinch the match with a 0-6, 7-6(2), 7-5 win. Here is a video clip of the match point courtesy of Scott Colson

Below is a post-match interview that Louisville did with Hedley and this link has one with head coach Rex Ecarma. 

 

 

#44 Louisville Men’s Tennis 4, #28 Notre Dame 3
Mar 11, 2017 at Louisville, Ky. (Bass-Rudd Tennis Center)
Singles
1. C. Morin-Kougoucheff (LOU-MT) def. #33 Josh Hagar (ND) 7-6 (7-5), 6-2
2. Eddy Covalschi (ND) def. Nicolas Rouanet (LOU-MT) 6-4, 7-5
3. Parker Wynn (LOU-MT) def. Alex Lebedev (ND) 6-3, 6-4
4. George Hedley (LOU-MT) def. Grayson Broadus (ND) 0-6, 7-6 (7-2), 7-5
5. Matt Gamble (ND) def. Brandon Lancaster (LOU-MT) 6-2, 6-4
6. Guillermo Cabrera (ND) def. Clement Filho (LOU-MT) 6-2, 7-5
Doubles
1. #65 Sean Donohue/Parker Wynn (LOU-MT) def. #12 Eddy Covalschi/Josh Hagar (ND) 6-4
2. C. Morin-Kougoucheff/Ciro Lampasas (LOU-MT) def. Matt Gamble/Alex Lebedev (ND) 6-2
3. Brendon Kempin/Grayson Broadus (ND) def. George Hedley/Brandon Lancaster (LOU-MT) 6-3
Match Notes:
Notre Dame 8-5, 1-1 ACC; National ranking #28
Louisville Men’s Tennis 11-3, 2-1 ACC; National ranking #44
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (5,3,6,2,1,4)
T-2:43, A-264

Post-Match Quotes from Louisville’s recap
“It was a long and grueling match,” said Hedley. “I lost the first set 6-0 and had a pretty bad start, but then I got fired up and basically got momentum. In the third set, I was down 5-3 and he was serving and I managed to break him. And I just kept on taking over and kept putting balls on the court and just found a way to win which was great for our team.”

“Two weeks ago, I started sending the message to the team to train as though you will be the last man on the court at 3-3,” said UofL head coach Rex Ecarma. “And here we go, George Hedley, it’s 3-3 – and he was prepared… this team has got a lot of potential, we understand that this is a good stepping stone to help our NCAA resume.”

 

 

In a battle between border rivals, #33 Wisconsin defeated #32 Minnesota 4-3. Wisconsin junior Josef Dodridge came back from 0-3 down in the third set of the deciding match to win six straight games to clinch the Badgers win. 

#33 Wisconsin 4, #32 University of Minnesota 3
Mar 11, 2017 at Nielsen Tennis Stadium (Madison, Wisconsin)
Singles competition
1. Matic Spec (MINN) def. Lamar Remy (WIS) 6-4, 7-6 (7-4)
2. Josef Dodridge (WIS) def. Felix Corwin (MINN) 7-5, 3-6, 6-3
3. Stefan Milicevic (MINN) def. Chema Carranza (WIS) 6-2, 6-2
4. Osgar O’Hoisin (WIS) def. Eli Ogilvy (MINN) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
5. Josip Krstanovic (MINN) def. Chase Colton (WIS) 7-6, 6-4
6. Daniel Soyfer (WIS) def. Marino Alpeza (MINN) 7-6 (7-3), 6-2
Doubles competition
1. Josef Dodridge/Chema Carranza (WIS) def. Matic Spec/Felix Corwin (MINN) 7-6 (7-4)
2. Lamar Remy/Chase Colton (WIS) def. Marino Alpeza/Justyn Levin (MINN) 6-3
3. Eli Ogilvy/Stefan Milicevic (MINN) def. John Zordani/Osgar O’Hoisin (WIS) 6-5
Match Notes
University of Minnesota 10-4, 0-1; National ranking #32
Wisconsin 10-2, 2-0; National ranking #33
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (3,6,1,4,5,2)

Post-Match Quote from Wisconsin’s recap
“There was so much going through my mind and it’s tough to keep your composure through these kinds of situations,” an exuberant Dodridge said. “When I fell behind 3-0 in the third set, I just told myself I had to get back to what I do best. In tight situations, when you do the basics well, you tend to come through.”

 

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