The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Tulsa
No. 5 Men's Tennis tops Tulsa, 6-1
04.07.2010 | Men's Tennis
April 7, 2010
AUSTIN, Texas -- No. 5 Texas (20-2) claimed a tight doubles point before pulling away with five singles wins, as the Longhorns posted a 6-1 win over Tulsa Wednesday evening at UT's Penick-Allison Tennis Center.
Texas opened the match by claiming the doubles point, but not without a fight from the Golden Hurricane. Tulsa's Philip Stephens and Ashley Watling opened with an 8-3 win at first doubles over UT's sixth-ranked duo of Dimitar Kutrovsky and Josh Zavala. The Horns bounced back with a win at second doubles. UT's Kellen Damico and Ed Corrie broke Tulsa's Alastair Barnes and Grant Ive midway through the match and ran away to an 8-4 victory.
Trailing 7-6 at third doubles, UT's Jean Andersen and Chris Camillone saved a pair of match points against Tulsa's Marcelo Arevalo and Marko Ballok and ultimately evened the match at seven. The Texas tandem broke Tulsa's serve in the ensuing game and held in the following game to take the match, 9-7 and clinch the doubles point.
Tulsa evened the match at one with a straight-set win at third singles, but the Horns would pull away with victories in the remaining five matches. Freshman Vasko Mladenov staked UT to a 2-0 lead at sixth singles with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Ballok. Kutrovsky stretched the Longhorns' cushion to 3-1 with a 7-6 (2), 6-3 win over Tulsa's 55th-ranked Arevalo at first singles. Texas picked up the clinching point from Zavala, who hung on in a second-set tiebreaker and posted a 6-4, 7-6 (4) win over TU's Ive at fifth singles.
As Zavala did at fifth singles, UT's Andersen won his first set and outlasted his opponent in a second-set tiebreaker at fourth singles. Andersen topped TU's Barnes in the first set, 6-2 and held on in the second-set tiebreaker, 7-5 to give Texas a 5-1 lead. Texas' Corrie finished off the Longhorns' victory with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Tulsa's 50th-ranked Watling at second singles.
Texas returns to Big 12 Conference play on Saturday, April 10 at Baylor.
POST-MATCH COMMENTS
Texas head coach Michael Center
"The doubles point was a tough one to win. We hung in there and got through the point, but it could have gone either way. We had great starts in singles, and that set the tone for the rest of the match. It's a nice win, but we need to keep getting better."
No. 5 Texas 6, Tulsa 1
Doubles - Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3
1 #30 Philip Stephens/Ashley Watling (TU) def. #6 Dimitar Kutrovsky/Josh Zavala (Texas) - 8-3
2 #18 Ed Corrie/Kellen Damico (Texas) def. Alastair Barnes/Grant Ive (TU) - 8-4
3 Jean Andersen/Chris Camillone (Texas) def. Marcelo Arevalo/Marko Ballok (TU) - 9-7
Singles - Order of Finish: 3, 6, 1, 5, 4, 2
1 #10 Dimitar Kutrovsky (Texas) def. #55 Marcelo Arevalo (TU) - 7-6 (2), 6-3
2 #18 Ed Corrie (Texas) def. #50 Ashley Watling (TU) - 6-2, 6-3
3 Philip Stephens (TU) def. #82 Kellen Damico (Texas) - 6-3, 6-3
4 Jean Andersen (Texas) def. Alastair Barnes (TU) - 6-2, 7-6 (5)
5 #81 Josh Zavala (Texas) def. Grant Ive (TU) - 6-4, 7-6 (4)
6 Vasko Mladenov (Texas) def. Marko Ballok (TU) - 6-1, 6-3
