The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Arkansas
No. 8 Men's Tennis overpowers Arkansas, 6-1 in season opener
01.22.2010 | Men's Tennis
Jan. 22, 2010
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- No. 8 Texas (1-0) swept the doubles session and added five singles victories en route to a 6-1 season-opening victory at Arkansas (0-2) Friday evening at the Razorbacks' Dills Indoor Tennis Center.
Texas started off with a dominant effort in the doubles session, as the Horns swept the three matches to claim the doubles point. Juniors Ed Corrie and Kellen Damico tallied an 8-5 win at second doubles over Matthew Hogan and Matt Walters, and Texas nailed down the doubles point at the third slot, where freshman Vasko Mladenov and senior Jon Wiegand knocked off Michael Ward and Nikolas Zogaj by an 8-4 count. The 22nd-ranked Texas duo of seniors Dimitar Kutrovsky and Josh Zavala finished off the doubles sweep with an 8-3 win over the Razorbacks' Chris Nott and Dmitry Lebedev.
Texas stretched its lead to 2-0 at third singles, where Damico posted a 6-4, 6-2 win over Taylor King. Zavala never relinquished control of his match against Lebedev at fourth singles and went on to a 6-3, 6-3 win to give the Longhorns a 3-0 lead. At second singles, UT's ninth-ranked Corrie held off Hogan in the first set, 6-4 and thwarted Hogan's effort to force a third set, as he rallied for a 7-5 second-set victory to clinch his match and nail down the team victory for Texas.
Arkansas got on the board at sixth singles when Zogaj defeated Texas freshman Daniel Whitehead in a third-set super-tiebreaker. Whitehead took the first set, 6-2, and Zogaj took the second set in a tiebreaker. With Texas having clinched the match, a 10-point super-tiebreaker was played in lieu of a standard set, and Zogaj prevailed, 10-3.
Texas' Mladenov engaged in a lengthy battle against Arkansas' Gregoire Lehmann at fifth singles and prevailed in three sets. Mladenov dropped the first set, 6-3 before returning the favor in set two by a 6-3 count. Mladenov overpowered Lehmann in the final set, 6-1 to stake Texas to a 5-1 lead.
UT's fifth-ranked Kutrovsky dropped the first set against Arkansas' Nott at first singles, 6-4, and after finding himself in a 4-0 hole in the second set, Kutrovsky stormed back to take the set, 7-5. Kutrovsky handily finished off Nott in the third set, 6-2.
Texas resumes play on Saturday, Jan. 30 when it hosts its home opener against Middle Tennessee State in conjunction with the ITA Kick-Off Weekend. Texas Tech and California will face off earlier in the day at UT's Penick-Allison Tennis Center, and the winners of the two matches will meet on Jan. 31 with a berth in the ITA National Team Indoor Championships on the line.
POST-MATCH QUOTES
Texas head coach Michael Center
On the season opening road win: It was definitely a hard-fought win. In doubles, we had some 3-all and 4-all scores, and then we separated ourselves. In singles, we had some close matches. We have put in a lot of conditioning work this month, and it paid off. I felt we got stronger as the match wore on. Arkansas is an improved team who will have a good year. I'm happy our guys were able to get it done against a hostile crowd. But, we need to get off to better starts.
On the team's start in doubles: We had some opportunities early in doubles, but I didn't think we were aggressive enough to get those breaks. We need to execute on these break points and put some balls in play, but I give Arkansas credit. They played well. As the match progressed and played more fundamentally sound tennis with our first serves and first volleys.
On how the freshmen managed their first dual-match starts on the road: I thought Vasko (Mladenov) and Daniel (Whitehead) did well. I know Daniel was disappointed because he was in the best position to win and had a chance in the tie-breaker. They did a lot of good things. Vasko really calmed down and finished the match strong. It was a good start for both of those guys.
On Dimitar Kutrovsky's rally at No. 1 singles: Dimi was down a set and 4-0 in the second set, and he really stepped it up and showed why he's an All-American. He just wouldn't go away, and physically, he was able to wear his opponent down.
No. 8 Texas 6, Arkansas 1
Dills Indoor Tennis Center - Fayetteville, Ark.
Doubles - Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1
1 No. 22 Kutrovsky/Zavala (UT) def. Chris Nott/Dmitry Lebedev (UA) - 8-3
2 Corrie/Damico (UT) def. Matthew Hogan/Matt Walters (UA) - 8-5
3 Mladenov/Wiegand (UT) def. Michael Ward/Nikolas Zogaj (UA) - 8-4
Singles - Order of Finish: 3, 4, 2, 6, 5, 1
1 No. 5 Dimitar Kutrovsky (UT) def. Chris Nott (UA) - 4-6, 7-5, 6-2
2 No. 9 Ed Corrie (UT) def. Matthew Hogan (UA) - 6-4, 7-5
3 Kellen Damico (UT) def. Taylor King (UA) - 6-4, 6-2
4 No. 38 Josh Zavala (UT) def. Dmitry Lebedev (UA) - 6-3, 6-3
5 Vasko Mladenov (UT) def. Gregoire Lehmann (UA) - 3-6, 6-3, 6-1
6 Nikolas Zogaj (UA) def. No. 85 Daniel Whitehead (UT) - 2-6, 7-6, 1-0 (10-3)
