The first surprise of the day came when the doubles lineups were announced. According to Kim Gorum, who was running Baylor's terrific blog, Baylor's doubles lineups were challenged earlier in the week by the opposing coaches in the Big 12. The coaches didn't like the fact that Baylor's #1 team had a record of 5-4 while it's #2 and #3 teams were a combined 26-3. The challenge was upheld so Baylor had to move its #2 to #1, its #3 to #2, and while they could have kept the Zsiga/Lupieri duo together at #3 they decided to switch it up and pair Max Tchoutakian with Mate Zsiga at #3.
Despite the shuffle, Baylor still came out strong and took the doubles point with wins at 1 and 3. The clinching win at #1 was a little harder than it could have been because Diego Galeano got broke at love when he was serving for it up 5-3 but Baylor would come back and take it in a tiebreak.
Once singles got underway, the Sooner Schooner made a lap around the complex and deposited 4 first sets in OU's bank and then it gave Axel Alvarez and Dane Webb a little extra gas to get those 2 back in their respective matches.
While 4 of the singles matches were tightly contested there were 2 that were never in doubt. Andrew Harris would be the first to finish at #2 singles as he nearly led wire to wire in his 6-2, 7-5 win over Tony Lupieri. Alex Ghilea would be off next as he cruised to a 6-3, 6-3 win at #4 over Diego Galeano. The wins by Harris and Ghilea put Oklahoma ahead 2-1.
It looked like Baylor would tie it back up at 2 when Max Tchoutakian opened up a 5-2 lead in the 3rd set over Dane Webb at #3 singles. Webb would hold at love to make it 5-3 then Tchoutakian went up 40-30 on his serve to give himself 2 match points. On the first match point Tchoutakian was overruled by the chair on a baseline call and then on the second match point Tchoutakian would get overruled again this time on a shot on the opposite side of the court (per the BU blog). I figured after getting broke under those circumstances that Tchoutakian would pack it in but he kept himself in the match and got it to a tiebreak. Webb would fall behind 1-0 in the tiebreak but he wouldn't trail again and would take it 7-4. The Webb victory put Oklahoma up 3-1 meaning they just needed 1 of the remaining 3 courts.
This result reminded me of Dane's come from behind win over Virginia's Thai-Son Kwiatkowski when Dane trailed 6-3, 5-3 and faced a match point on TSK's serve yet came back to win in 3.
Baylor's Felipe Rios would pull Baylor to within 3-2 when he avenged his loss to Florin Bragui by winning 5-7, 7-5, 6-4. After Bragusi took the opening set, he would have a break lead in the second set 4 times but Rios kept breaking back before finally holding for a 5-4 lead. Bragusi would end up going 1 for 6 on his service game in the second set because Rios would break him one more time to take the set 7-5. Rios jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the 3rd set before Bragusi tied it up at 4 but Rios would hold and break 1 more time to take the match 5-7, 7-5, 6-4.
The matchup at #1 singles between the ITA #1 Julian Lenz and ITA #2 Axel Alvarez was everything it was built up to be. Lenz jumped out to a double break lead in the 1st set and was serving up 4-1 but Alvarez charged back to force a tiebreak. Alvarez would go up 4-1 in the tiebreak before Lenz himself made a comeback to win 6 straight points to take the tiebreak 7-4. Alvarez jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the 2nd but Lenz would break back and knot it at 3. Alvarez would break again, hold, and break yet again to take the final 3 games of the 2nd set and take it 6-3. After Alvarez held to go up 1-0 in the 3rd, Lenz called a medical timeout to have his knee looked at before the 30-40 point. Lenz would get broke following the timeout and then Alvarez held for 3-0. After 3 straight holds, Lenz would break Alvarez to get the match back on serve but Alvarez would then break back to go up 5-3. Lenz would then break Alvarez, who was serving for the match, but Axel finally said enough is enough and broke back to win the match 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 and with that Oklahoma had the win.
Seconds after the clinch, Baylor's Mate Zsiga would close out his tiebreak at #5 but it was too little too late for BU.
Sometimes my predictions may not be the best but I came about as close as possible to nailing this one on the head. The only singles match I missed was Webb/Tchoutakain with my prediction of Tchoutakian in 3 coming up short thanks to Dane's tremendous comeback.
If this were a boxing match, somebody would be asking for a rematch. I think we'll probably get at least 1 more from these 2 in the coming weeks.
I thought this was a cool pic that Tom Perrotta posted on twitter:
Friday night lights in Texas--for college tennis. Oklahoma at Baylor, 1 versus 2 in Waco. pic.twitter.com/0nd4JBDAwv
— Tom Perrotta (@TomPerrotta) April 10, 2015
Short video clip below from Baylor:
Oklahoma recap
"It was an exciting match in a tough environment," head coach John Roddick said. "I am just glad we got out of there with a win. It was an unbelievable effort by our guys. All-in-all our mentality and our competitiveness was fantastic."
"Harris and Ghilea going through and winning and giving
us two points on the board with straight-sets wins was really nice,"
Roddick said.
"Dane fighting off two match points is just Dane being
Dane," Roddick said. "You always get that effort win or lose from
Dane and 99 percent of the time he seems to come out on top in those matches. I
couldn't be more proud."
"Florin had a chance to win there and he played some
really good tennis," Roddick said. "He played well enough to win. Two
good players played a great match and someone had to lose."
"It was an incredicle effort there as well,"
Roddick said. "Even though Spencer lost he did everything he needed to do
and he is a better tennis player walking off the court today."
Axel did an unbelievable job," Roddick said. "It
was No. 1 vs. No. 2 in teams and No. 1 vs. No. 2 in individuals. He dropped a
tough first set, but fought back and played some great tennis to pull it out.
To overcome that first is just a tremendous effort."
Baylor recap
TOP QUOTE #1
"I think the really positive thing that you could see
today was that everyone was fighting as hard as they could fight. That's all
that you can ask for as a coach. We just have to get better." - head coach
Matt Knoll on today's match
TOP QUOTE #2
"I think you expect all of these matches to be tough. I
was a little disappointed in a couple spots where we got knocked out in 2 sets,
but we have to find a way to be a little more competitive out there. We're
going to go back to the drawing boards and hopefully get a little better.
Hopefully, when we get a chance to play a really good team like this again
we'll be ready." - Knoll on moving his team forward
TOP QUOTE #3
"It was a special atmosphere. I don't think we've ever
had a better one. It was unbelievable. I want to thank everyone for coming out.
The rule that allows for everyone to engage in the matches and have more fun is
a really positive rule. I hope we continue to draw more people like this."
- Knoll on the crowd
FYI, the number beside the player's school is the player's Universal Tennis Rating as of April 10th. For more details about UTR check out their website.
FYI, the number beside the player's school is the player's Universal Tennis Rating as of April 10th. For more details about UTR check out their website.
#1 Oklahoma 4, #2 Baylor 3
April 10, 2015 at Waco, TX (Hurd Tennis Center)
Singles Competion
1. #2 Axel Alvarez (OU 14.76) def. #1 Julian Lenz (BU 14.77) 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-4
2. #7 Andrew Harris (OU 14.85) def. #31 Tony Lupieri (BU 14.12) 6-2, 7-5
3. #30 Dane Webb (OU 14.24) def. #61 Max Tchoutakian (BU 14.33) 2-6, 6-2, 7-6(4)
4. #70 Alex Ghilea (OU 14.19) def. Diego Galeano (BU 13.63) 6-3, 6-3
5. #117 Mate Zsiga (BU 13.86) def. Spencer Papa (OU 13.86) 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(5)
6. Felipe Rios (BU 13.83) def. Florin Bragusi (OU 13.58) 5-7, 7-5, 6-4
Doubles Competition
1. #54 Lenz/Galeano (BU) def. #8 Alvarez/Webb (OU) 7-6(4)
2. #52 Ghilea/Harris (OU) def. Vince Schneider/Rios (BU) 6-4
3. Zsiga/Tchoutakian (BU) def. Papa/Bragusi (OU) 6-3
Match Notes:
Oklahoma 21-1 (3-0); National Ranking #1
Baylor 17-4 (1-1); National Ranking #2
Order of Finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (2,4,3,6,1,5)
A-1479
Who Wins on Friday in Waco
28 (50%)
|
28 (50%)
|
Votes so far: 56
_______________________________________________________
Earlier this year Stanford knocked off its Bay Area rival Cal and today they took out one of their So Cal rivals as the 36th ranked Cardinal beat #15 UCLA 4-3. Stanford took the all important doubles point then picked up wins from John Morrissey, Nolan Paige, and David Hsu at 2, 5, and 6 to get the win. Paige won the clinching match for Stanford but it didn't come easy after UCLA's Joseph DiGiulio ralled from 5-3 down to force a 3rd set tiebreak. Paige dominated the tiebreak to give Stanford the win.
Stanford recap
UCLA recap
#36 Stanford 4, #15 UCLA 3
Apr 10, 2015 at Stanford, CA (Taube Stadium)
Doubles
1. #36 Morrissey/Stineman (ST) def. #7 McDonald/Redlicki
(UCLA) 6-4
2. Fawcett/Maciek Romanowicz (ST) vs. Di Giulio/Sell
(UCLA) 4-5, unf
3. Paige/Wilczynski (ST) def. Mkrtchian/Rapp (UCLA) 6-4
Singles
1. #4 Mackenzie McDonald (UCLA 14.99) def. #41 Tom Fawcett (ST 14.32)
7-6(6), 6-7(6), (10-8)
2. #100 John Morrissey (ST 13.95) def. #119 Martin Redlicki
(UCLA 14.38) 7-6(3), 6-3
3. #29 Dennis Mkrtchian (UCLA 13.91) def. David Wilczynski (ST 13.84)
6-4, 6-4
4. Karue Sell (UCLA 13.98) def. Robert Stineman (ST 13.18) 6-1, 3-6,
6-3
5. Nolan Paige (ST 13.32) def. Joseph Di Giulio (UCLA 13.37) 3-6, 6-4,
7-6(4)
6. David Hsu (ST 13.81) def. Austin Rapp (UCLA 12.95) 7-5, 7-5
Match Notes
UCLA 13-7; 4-1 Pac-12; National ranking #15
Stanford 14-4; 5-0 Pac-12; National ranking #36
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (3,2,4,6,5,1)
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (3,2,4,6,5,1)
Who Wins on 4/10 in Palo Alto
62 (87%)
|
9 (12%)
|
Votes so far: 71
_______________________________________________________
This one didn't have the hype of Oklahoma/Baylor but it was every bit as close with 5 of 6 singles matches going the distance and in the end it was Vanderbilt rallying for a 4-3 win over Mississippi State. The match came down to #1 singles and after State's Florian Lakat came back from 4-1 down to tie it at 4, Vanderbilt's Gonzales Austin would take the final 2 points to seal the win.
Vanderbilt recap
"Our team did a great job out there today," said head coach Ian Duvenhage. "I thought once we lost the doubles point it was going to be hard ... really hard, and it was, but we found a way to get it done. After doubles we talked about the fact that we needed to give ourselves the best chance at every single position in singles, and that's what we did."
"Rhys (Johnson) and Kris (Yee) both lost their first
sets and came back, and that kind of momentum makes a difference because if
those guys lose in straight sets then we go down 3-0. Instead we won at No. 3
and five and went up 2-1. Our team just did a sensational job."
Mississippi State recap
“That was a tough loss today, but it’s never easy playing on the road in the SEC,” MSU coach Matt Roberts said. “Now we have to rebound at home and close out the regular season strong on Sunday.”
#21 Vanderbilt 4, #20 Mississippi State 3
April 10, 2015 at Nashville, TN (Currey Tennis Center)
Doubles
1) #2 Rhys Johnson/Gonzales Austin (VU) vs. #15 Julian
Cash/Florian Lakat (MSU); 6-6 (2-2)
2) Mate Cutura/Tassilo Schmid (MSU) def. #75 Pen
Binet/Baker Newman (VU); 6-0
3) Juan Cruz Estevarena/Robin Haden (MSU) def. Daniel Valent/Jeff
Offerdahl (VU); 6-4
Order of Finish; 2,3*
Singles
1) #9 Gonzales Austin (VU 14.58) def. #73 Florian Lakat
(MSU 13.89); 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
2) Juan Cruz Estevarena (MSU 13.76) def. Rhys Johnson (VU 13.54); 7-5,
2-6, 6-3
3) #83 Daniel Valent (VU 14.00) def. #96 Mate Cutura (MSU 13.76);
6-3, 7-6(5)
4) Rishab Agarwal (MSU 13.76) def. Kris Yee (VU 13.59); 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
5) Suresh Eswaran (VU 12.94) def. Tassilo Schmid (MSU 12.78); 6-1, 4-6,
6-2
6) Baker Newman (VU 12.91) def. Julian Cash (MSU 12.43); 3-6, 7-6(6),
6-4
Order of Finish; 3, 5, 2, 6, 4, 1*
Order of Finish; 3, 5, 2, 6, 4, 1*
_________________________________________________
In yet another 4-3 thriller it was Texas Tech beating Oklahoma State 4-3 as Tech's Felipe Soares provided the clincher at #1 singles with a 6-4 4-6, 6-4 win over Jakob Sude. Texas Tech took the doubles point and swept the top 3 singles spots while Okie St swept the bottom 3.
Texas Tech recap
"When you lose close matches to No. 9 and No. 10 and
then you face No. 1 on Sunday and No. 2 next week, you know that this is going
to be a tough, close match. This was an extremely important win for us."
"The thing about Felipe is he does not get tight,"
said Siegel. "He plays to win and that is what you have to have at No.
1."
Oklahoma State recap
#23 Texas Tech 4, #25 Oklahoma State 3
April 10, 2015 - Lubbock, Texas (McLeod Tennis Center)
Singles
1. #35 Felipe Soares (TT 13.60) def. #39 Jakob Sude (OKST 13.70) 6-4,
4-6, 6-4
2. Hugo Dojas (TT 13.50) def. #98 Lucas Gerch (OKST 13.76) 6-3, 7-5
3. Alex Sendegeya (TT 13.57) def. #118 Arjun Kadhe (OKST 13.51) 6-0, 6-1
4. Lukas Finzelberg (OKST 13.78) def. #114 Jolan Cailleau (TT 13.43)
6-4, 6-4
5. Nicolai Ferrigno (OKST 13.49) def. Francisco Zambon (TT 12.90) 3-6,
6-3, 6-4
6. Jurence Mendoza (OKST 13.02) def. Connor Curry (TT 12.93) 6-2, 6-2
Doubles
1. #33 Felipe Soares / Hugo Dojas (TT) def. #26 Jakob Sude /
Arjun Kadhe (OKST) 6-3
2. Alex Sendegeya / Jolan Cailleau (TT) def. Nicolai
Ferrigno / Lucas Gerch (OKST) 7-6 (7-5)
3. Francisco Zambon / Connor Curry (TT) vs. Tristan Meraut /
Jurence Mendoza (OKST) 5-6, unfinished
Match Notes
Records: #25 Oklahoma State (16-6, 0-3 Big 12); #23 Texas
Tech (17-6, 1-2 Big 12)
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (3,4,2,6,5,1)
T-3:01 A-832
______________________________________________________________
Despite dropping the doubles point and losing at #1 singles, USC still managed to gut out a 4-2 win over Cal in a match that was much tougher than i thought it'd be. Jonny Wang was the only Trojan able to get off the court in straight sets while Cal's Andre Goransson did the same in a 6-4, 6-1 win over a reeling Yannick Hanfmann. Hanfmann has now dropped 4 of his last 6. Roberto Quiroz, Max de Vroome, and Nick Crystal all won in 3 sets and Eric Johnson was up 4-1 in the 3rd in a match that was abandoned at the clinch.
Cal recap
T-3:01 A-832
______________________________________________________________
Despite dropping the doubles point and losing at #1 singles, USC still managed to gut out a 4-2 win over Cal in a match that was much tougher than i thought it'd be. Jonny Wang was the only Trojan able to get off the court in straight sets while Cal's Andre Goransson did the same in a 6-4, 6-1 win over a reeling Yannick Hanfmann. Hanfmann has now dropped 4 of his last 6. Roberto Quiroz, Max de Vroome, and Nick Crystal all won in 3 sets and Eric Johnson was up 4-1 in the 3rd in a match that was abandoned at the clinch.
Cal recap
“We’ve been playing well, and the guys have been putting in
great sessions in practice,” Wright added.
“We know every match ahead is an opportunity to demonstrate
how much we’ve improved over the course of the year. The team is energized
about Senior Day tomorrow, and having McManus Legends Day as well tomorrow
gives us even more incentive.”
USC recap
No. 5 USC (19-3, 5-0 Pac-12) defeated No. 27 California
(16-6, 4-1 Pac-12) – 4-2
April 10, 2015, in Berkeley, Calif. (Hellman Tennis Complex)
Doubles
1. #42 Gregory Bayane/Chase Melton (Cal) vs. # 5
Yannick Hanfmann/Roberto Quiroz (USC) – 5-3 unf
2. Andre Goransson/Oskar Wikberg (Cal) def. Eric Johnson/Connor
Farren (USC) – 6-3
3. Filip Bergevi/Mads Engsted (Cal) def. Max de
Vroome/Thibault Forget (USC) – 6-3
Order of Finish: 2, 3*
Singles
1. #59 Andre Goransson (Cal 13.95) def. #6 Yannick Hanfmann
(USC 14.85) – 6-4, 6-1
2. #19 Roberto Quiroz (USC 14.47) def. #74 Filip Bergevi
(Cal 13.85) – 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
3. #123 Eric Johnson (USC 14.30) vs. Gregory Bayane (Cal 13.41) –
6-7(5), 6-0, 4-1 unf
4. #33 Jonny Wang (USC 14.19) def. Oskar Wikberg (Cal 13.38) – 6-4,
6-1
5. #75 Max de Vroome (USC 14.06) def. J.T. Nishimura (Cal 13.63) –
6-4, 4-6, 6-1
6. #86 Nick Crystal (USC 13.98) def. Mads Engsted (Cal 13.45) – 6-2,
4-6, 6-3
Order of Finish: 1, 4, 5, 2, 6^
____________________________________________________________
Top 10 (Through Friday's Matches)
Top 10 (Through Friday's Matches)
| Rank | School | Points | Previous |
| 1 | Oklahoma | 88.89 | 1 |
| 2 | Baylor | 74.06 | 2 |
| 3 | Illinois | 69.58 | 3 |
| 4 | Texas A&M | 65.00 | 7 |
| 5 | Virginia | 64.87 | 4 |
| 6 | USC | 62.93 | 5 |
| 7 | Georgia | 60.16 | 8 |
| 8 | Duke | 59.43 | 6 |
| 9 | Texas | 58.00 | 9 |
| 10 | TCU | 56.56 | 10 |
Oklahoma's lead at #1 is now almost 15 point over #2
Baylor.
Texas A&M will jump to #3 at 69.81 if it beats TCU on
Saturday.
TCU would jump to #8 at 61.32 it it beats Texas A&M on
Saturday.
Georgia would jump to #6 at 63.79 if it beats Ole Miss on
Saturday.
Ole Miss would jump to #11 at 49.45 if it beat Georgia on Saturday.
Ole Miss would jump to #11 at 49.45 if it beat Georgia on Saturday.
9 comments:
Oklahoma's lead is impressive. I'm not convinced they are as superior as the number shows. I know it is the computer and the formula but I still think they are beatable. They aren't Virginia from a couple of years ago.
I was at the match and the crowd behavior was the worst I have ever seen. The Baylor fans were taunting the Oklahoma players during points and making fools of themselves. If this is what the Big 12 wants with their new fan rules then they get what they deserve.
At one point the blog thought the crowd caused Baylor to get a point penalty but then it was determined the penalty came from the language used by a Baylor player. I'm all for the noise but it needs to be respectful.
Yeah when you look at them you think they're a good team but beatable but yet they still keep finding ways to pull match after match out. It's amazing that they keep beating very good teams despite losing the doubles point.
Exactly, I think one can assume they won't be an easy out but they are not unstoppable. They have players that just won't go without a fight and it keeps working for them. Give Roddick a lot of credit. His players show tremendous toughness.
I'm not sure if their aggressive scheduling helps or hurts. I guess when you keep winning, it doesn't matter. His players never get a rest.
Hoping that these "new fan rules" by the Big 12 will not be in play during the NCAA team tournament on May 14 through May 19.
I was at the match. The point penalty was on Schneider when he was in the stands for taunting Webb. This OU team is incredibly resilient. Their schedule has been by far the toughest in the nation and it will help them come NCAAs. The way that OU handled the garbage that was being said last night was nothing but impressive.
This comment brought a smile to my face, because I remember Schneider last year at the Baylor-USC match in LA. It was a tight and long match, which USC won 5-2, but it was marred by Schneider's theatrics, yelling at the top of his lungs non-stop after every point in every court. Pretty soon people in the stands were getting very annoyed, and I was just thinking, "Just shut up, please!" I tried, but I couldn't move away far enough if I still wanted to see the matches. Three of Baylor's starting six were Germans, as is Schneider, so he was yelling "Auf geht's" a lot, but also other things in German, as well as in English. So you can imagine how this came across, a guy yelling intimidating things in German and in German-accented English. He even topped it off at one point by shouting at one of his compatriots, "Show them our German power!" I'm not kidding. This was even more odd because was sitting in front of court #2, where Baylor's Pradella was playing USC's own German player, Yannick Hanfmann. The only other time I saw something like this kind of boorishness was when a Stanford scrub came to the USC match last year, and his relentless yelling triggered an actual fistfight in the stands. I noticed that this same kid this year was better behaved.
I'm all for boisterous, vocal crowds. This is what makes college tennis matches so great, just as the atmosphere in the Davis Cup and Ryder Cup matches is so distinctive, better than even the grand slams. And it seems the OK-Baylor match was fantastic for this reason. But there's a pretty clear line that you shouldn't cross as a spectator, even if you're on the team.
Where's the coach when Schneider is being such a jerk? Pretty nice sized crowd, but not as many as we had at UGA today. Go Dawgs. I am shocked that not all Baylor fans in Waco are nicely behaved Baptists.
Post a Comment