The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
California
No. 8 Men's Tennis edges No. 6 California, 4-3
03.11.2017 | Men's Tennis
Sophomore Leonardo Telles saves multiple match points, pulls out three-set clincher to give the Longhorns a key road win heading into a showdown with No. 1 Ohio State.
BERKELEY, Calif. – No. 8 Texas (14-4) won the doubles point, picked up singles wins from Rodrigo Banzer and Harrison Scott and added a come-from-behind clincher from Leonardo Telles in a 4-3 win at No. 6 California (9-4) Saturday evening at the Golden Bears' Hellman Tennis Complex.
Texas got out to a fast start in doubles and rode its momentum to the doubles point. At third doubles, freshman Christian Sigsgaard and sophomore Julian Zlobinsky raced out to a 5-0 lead on their way to a 6-2 win over Bjorn Hoffmann and J.T. Nishimura.
UT freshman Yuya Ito joined sophomore Colin Markes to make short work of Andre Goransson and Connor Heap, as the Horns put away a 6-1 win at second doubles to clinch the doubles point. The remaining match at first doubles was suspended.
Cal evened the match at one behind Filip Bergevi's 6-1, 6-4 win over UT's George Goldhoff at third singles. Texas reclaimed the lead at 2-1 behind Banzer's 6-4, 6-3 win over Heap at sixth singles. The Golden Bears evened the match again by way of Florian Lakat's 7-6 (5), 6-1 win over Sigsgaard at first singles.
Scott, who moved up to No. 2 singles for this match, put the Horns back in the lead at 3-2. Cal's 30th-ranked Goransson took the first set, 6-3 before Scott claimed the second, 6-2. Scott broke Goransson for a 4-3 third-set lead and held serve the rest of the way to put away the three-set win.
Cal's Hoffmann held on for a three-set win over UT's Ito at fourth singles, leaving the match's outcome to be determined at fifth singles. Telles dropped the first set to Cal's Nishimura in a tiebreaker. Telles served 4-5 in the second set with three match points against him, and the sophomore from Brazil saved all three of them and held serve for 5-all. Telles broke Nishimura in the next game and held serve for a 7-5 second-set win.
Telles broke Nishimura in the first game of the third set, and he cruised to a 6-2 third-set win to preserve the 4-3 victory for the Longhorns.
Next Wednesday (March 15), Texas welcomes its second top-two opponent in less than two weeks when it hosts No. 1 Ohio State. The Longhorns and Buckeyes engaged in a classic in their most recent match in the third round of the 2016 NCAA Championships, where Ohio State won in a third-set tiebreaker. Wednesday's match is set for 1 p.m. Central at Caswell Tennis Center (2312 Shoal Creek Blvd., Austin TX 78705).
POST-MATCH COMMENTS
Texas head coach Michael Center
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.
No. 8 Texas 4, No. 6 California 3
Doubles – Order of Finish: 3, 2
1 Leonardo Telles/George Goldhoff (UT) vs. No. 1 Florian Lakat/Filip Bergevi (Cal), 3-4, susp.
2 Yuya Ito/Colin Markes (UT) def. Andre Goransson/Connor Heap (Cal), 6-1
3 Christian Sigsgaard/Julian Zlobinsky (UT) def. Bjorn Hoffmann/J.T. Nishimura (Cal), 6-2
Singles – Order of Finish: 3, 6, 1, 2, 4, 5
1 No. 14 Florian Lakat (Cal) def. No. 12 Christian Sigsgaard (UT), 7-6 (5), 6-1
2 No. 70 Harrison Scott (UT) def. No. 30 Andre Goransson (Cal), 3-6, 6-2, 6-4
3 No. 109 Filip Bergevi (Cal) def. George Goldhoff (UT), 6-1, 6-4
4 Bjorn Hoffmann (Cal) def. No. 34 Yuya Ito (UT), 7-6, 4-6, 6-3
5 No. 108 Leonardo Telles (UT) def. J.T. Nishimura (Cal), 6-7 (6), 7-5, 6-2
6 Rodrigo Banzer (UT) def. Connor Heap (Cal), 6-4, 6-3
Players Mentioned
