The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Baylor (Big 12 Championships final)
No. 15 Men's Tennis outlasts No. 27 Baylor, wins Big 12 tournament title
04.29.2018 | Men's Tennis
Longhorns win first league tourney since 2010.
AUSTIN, Texas – Second-seeded Texas dropped the doubles point but put forth a formidable singles effort that was enough to surpass fifth-seeded Baylor Sunday afternoon in the finals of the Big 12 Championship. The Longhorns prevailed by a 4-2 count and won their fifth Big 12 tournament title, their first since the last time they hosted the event in 2010. Longhorns All-America sophomore Yuya Ito was selected as the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
Baylor put Texas in an early hole by winning two of three doubles decisions for a 1-0 match lead. Texas led off with a win from its 41st-ranked duo of junior Harrison Scott and sophomore Christian Sigsgaard, who defeated Baylor's Johannes Schretter and Akos Kotorman, 6-3. Baylor, however responded with a pair of 6-4 wins at the third and second positions, respectively, to take the doubles point.
Ito evened the tally for Texas with his 6-2, 6-2 victory over the 88th-ranked Matias Soto at second singles. The Bears reclaimed the lead at 2-1 when the 68th-ranked Schretter knocked off UT's 112th-ranked Sigsgaard at first singles, 7-5, 6-3.
Texas' 88th-ranked Scott evened the tally at two with his 7-6 (2), 7-5 win over Will Little at third singles. UT's 91st-ranked Leonardo Telles gave the Longhorns the lead for good when he dealt Sven Lah a 6-3, 6-4 loss at fourth singles.
Texas turned to junior Rodrigo Banzer for the match-clinching point at fifth singles. Banzer took on Baylor's Roy Smith and took the first set, 6-4. The second set progressed to a tiebreaker, where Banzer held match points on his serve at 6-4.
Banzer served to the backhand side of the left-hander Smith, whose return was met by a Banzer forehand down the right sideline. Smith ran down the ball and smacked a forehand, but Banzer waited at the net and put away an easy forehand volley for the win. The remaining match at sixth singles was suspended.
Texas is likely to earn hosting duties for the first and second rounds of the NCAA Championships that open Friday, May 11. UT will learn its first-round opponent on Tuesday when the NCAA reveals the tournament field at 4:30 p.m. CT at NCAA.com.
2018 Big 12 Championships – Men's Final
No. 2 seed Texas 4, No. 5 seed Baylor 2
Doubles – Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2
1 No. 41 Harrison Scott/Christian Sigsgaard (UT) def. Johannes Schretter/Akos Kotorman (BU), 6-3
2 Sven Lah/Roy Smith (BU) def. Leonardo Telles/Adrian Ortiz (UT), 6-4
3 Will Little/Constantin Frantzen (BU) def. Yuya Ito/Colin Markes (UT), 6-4
Singles – Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3, 4, 5
1 No. 68 Johannes Schretter (BU) def. No. 112 Christian Sigsgaard (UT), 7-5, 6-3
2 No. 57 Yuya Ito (UT) def. No. 88 Matias Soto (BU), 6-2, 6-2
3 No. 89 Harrison Scott (UT) def. Will Little (BU), 6-3, 6-4
4 No. 91 Leonardo Telles (UT) def. Sven Lah (BU), 6-3, 6-4
5 No. 103 Rodrigo Banzer (UT) def. Roy Smith (BU), 6-4, 7-6 (4)
6 Adrian Ortiz UT) vs. Constantin Frantzen (BU), 6-7 (2), 6-3, 1-2, susp.
POST-MATCH COMMENTS
Texas head coach Michael Center
On winning the Big 12 Championship at the Texas Tennis Center: It means a lot to the guys. They wanted a ring this year and they earned it. I'm happy for them. It's hard to win this conference.
On rallying to victory after being down after doubles play: We talked all the time about how you've got to play nine competitive spots. We knew if we won or lost that point, we still had to get it done in the singles. I really challenged them. Could we get six first sets on the board and who could get a point on the board? Let's turn the momentum of this match. We got four and had a chance at six, but we really did change the momentum of the match. We started putting pressure on them from then on out.
On Rodrigo Banzer clinching the win: Unreal. He was playing so well up a set and two breaks, serving 3-0. He started making some mistakes he hadn't been making all day. He had two set points against him and could have gone to a third set. He held it together and got to five-all. He played a really good game to hold, got to six-all and played an unbelievable tie-breaker. He's been clutch for us, and he was clutch again today.
Players Mentioned
