The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Arkansas
No. 4 Men’s Tennis posts 5-2 win at No. 19 Arkansas
01.22.2017 | Men's Tennis
Horns regroup nicely following tough loss at Tulsa, host ITA Kick-Off Weekend event beginning Jan. 28 at Weller Indoor.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – No. 4 Texas (4-1) won the doubles point and picked up four convincing singles wins, including a victory against a recent national champion, as the Longhorns posted a 5-2 win over host No. 19 Arkansas (1-2) Sunday afternoon at the Razorbacks' Dills Indoor Tennis Center.
Texas led off the match by winning the doubles point for the first time since its season-opening doubleheader sweep of UTSA and Abilene Christian on Jan. 12. UT surrendered the first result at No. 2 doubles before rallying with wins at the first and third positions to lock up the doubles point.
Sophomore Leonardo Telles teamed up with senior George Goldhoff to post a 6-4 win over Mike Redlicki and Jose Salazar at first doubles. Texas nailed down the doubles point at the third slot where freshman Christian Sigsgaard and sophomore Harrison Scott edged Johan den Toom and Branch Terrell, 7-5.
"We worked on the doubles on Saturday and came out to try a few different things and made some changes," said 17th-year Texas head coach Michael Center. "We came out with more of a sense of purpose, put more balls in play and put more pressure on our opponents. To win that match at No. 1 was really a heck of an effort. Arkansas got on us at No. 2, and they saved match points at No. 3, but we stayed with it. It was a nice momentum swing."
Scott pushed the Longhorns' lead to 2-0 behind his 6-2, 6-1 victory over den Toom at fourth singles. Telles made short work of Arkansas' Oscar Mesquida and notched a 6-0, 6-3 win at fifth singles to give Texas a 3-0 lead.
Freshman Yuya Ito clinched the team win for Texas by way of his 6-3, 6-3 win over Adam Sanjurjo at third singles. The teams elected to play out the remaining matches, and Arkansas won a third-set super tiebreaker at second singles to trim the Horns' lead to 4-1.
Sigsgaard registered a huge win at first singles, where he defeated Arkansas' third-ranked Redlicki, who just two months ago won the singles title at the ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships in New York City.
"Christian played a heck of a match today," Center said. "If he (Redlicki) is not the best player in the country, he is certainly one of the very best. He's a senior who just won the National Indoors, so that's a tremendous win for Christian."
Arkansas' Juan Marino outlasted UT sophomore Rodrigo Banzer in a third-set super tiebreaker at sixth singles to finish off the final 5-2 result in favor of Texas.
"We learned a lot about ourselves this weekend," Center said. "We're still finding our way and our lineup, but I thought we just learned a lot about how we need to compete and be prepared mentally. Overall, I'm just proud of how the guys responded. It was a team effort."
Texas returns home next weekend to host the Austin site of the national ITA Kick-Off Weekend event beginning Saturday, Jan. 28. The Horns host Drake on Saturday at 1 p.m. Central and will meet either Oregon or Rice on Sunday, Jan. 29. The team that wins both of its matches in Austin will advance to next month's ITA National Team Indoor Championships at The University of Virginia.
"We're excited about hosting the ITA Kick-Off Weekend next week, and it will be a real challenge," Center added. "We feel like we belong at the ITA National Indoors, but we have to go out and earn it."
No. 4 Texas 5, No. 19 Arkansas 2
Doubles – Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3
1 George Goldhoff/Leonardo Telles (UT) def. Mike Redlicki/Jose Salazar (UA), 6-4
2 Adam Sanjurjo/Oscar Mesquida (UA) def. Yuya Ito/Julian Zlobinsky (UT), 6-1
3 Christian Sigsgaard/Harrison Scott (UT) def. Johan den Toom/Branch Terrell (UA), 7-5
Singles – Order of Finish: 4, 5, 3, 2, 1, 6
1 No. 6 Christian Sigsgaard (UT) def. No. 3 Mike Redlicki (UA), 6-3, 6-7 (4), 1-0 (10-6)
2 No. 19 Jose Salazar (UA) def. George Goldhoff (UT), 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-5)
3 No. 36 Yuya Ito (UT) def. Adam Sanjurjo (UA), 6-3, 6-3
4 No. 47 Harrison Scott (UT) def. Johan den Toom (UA), 6-2, 6-1
5 Leonardo Telles (UT) def. Oscar Mesquida (UA), 6-0, 6-3
6 Juan Marino (UA) def. Rodrigo Banzer (UT), 7-5, 4-6, 1-0 (10-8)
Players Mentioned
