The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Columbia
No. 3 Men’s Tennis captures 6-1 win over No. 12 Columbia
03.22.2019 | Men's Tennis
The Longhorns top the Lions in the first of two top-15 matchups this weekend and move to 17-1.
Austin, Texas – The No. 3 Men's Tennis team showed no let down coming off its win over No. 1 Ohio State and having over a week off, turning in a strong performance to down No. 12 Columbia, 6-1, on Friday at the Texas Tennis Center.
"It was really nice to see," interim head coach Bruce Berque said. "One of the things it really shows is that our guys have a lot of respect for Columbia and we know what kind of team they are. I was really impressed with the way we came out to start the doubles and we had great intensity, along with another really nice crowd. To beat Columbia by that score is an impressive effort."
After grabbing the doubles point, the Longhorns took the top three singles matches, which all featured ranked players on both sides, in straight sets. Junior No. 9 Yuya Ito got things started at second singles with a 6-3, 6-1 win over No. 16 Jack Lin that was Ito's team-best 16th dual match victory and his sixth against a ranked opponent. The players split the first two games, but then Ito went on a 3-0 run with a break in the fourth game to go up 4-1. From there they stayed on serve for the 6-3 decision. In the second set, they again split the first two games, but this time Ito took two deuce point games on his way to a 5-0 run to finish the match.
Junior No. 6 Christian Sigsgaard followed just behind Ito, capturing a 6-4, 6-3 win over No. 41 Victor Pham in first singles for a 3-0 Texas lead. The players stayed on serve up until a 4-3 lead for Sigsgaard when he broke to go up 5-3 en route to a 6-4 win. Sigsgaard jumped out 3-0 in the second set and held that up until 5-2 when the players alternated deuce point games for the 6-3 result. Sigsgaard is now 7-3 against ranked foes in dual match play.
Just like against Ohio State, senior No. 104 Leonard Telles picked up the team clincher by defeating No. 91 Adam Ambrozy, 6-2, 6-4 in third singles. Telles took leads of 2-0 and 5-1 in the first set before winning, but in the second set, he trailed 3-4 on serve and then grabbed two deuce point games, including a break to go up 5-4, and then clinched the match. Telles now has a six-match winning streak that includes three ranked opponents and is 10-1 in dual match play overall.
Unlike the Ohio State match, the teams played out the singles matches. Freshman Chih Chi Huang returned to the lineup at sixth singles and made it 5-1 Texas with a 6-1, 7-5 win over Austen Huang. Chih Chi Huang came out of the gate with a 5-0 lead in the first set, but the second set stayed close the whole way with seven deuce point games, the last of which gave him a 6-5 lead before the 7-5 win. He is now 10-3 in dual match play.
Senior Colin Markes capped things off for the Longhorns, 2-6, 6-3, 4-3 (8), over Timothy Wang, getting back to his winning ways coming off his first dual match loss of the season last week. After splitting the first two sets, the third set was tied, 3-3, when the decision was made to go to a 10-point breaker. The players were knotted four times in that frame before Markes established an 8-6 lead that he held until his 10-8 win. Columbia's lone point came as Rian Pandole topped senior No. 59 Harrison Scott, 6-4, 6-3.
Earlier in doubles, No. 7 Scott and Sigsgaard jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead over No. 12 Lin and William Matheson in first doubles before finishing off the match at 6-1. Both second and third doubles were competing simultaneously for the clincher, and it was Markes and Telles at second that claimed it first at 6-2 over Ambrozy and Austen Huang. Chih Chi Huang and Ito had their match go unfinished up 5-2 and on triple match point against Pham and Pandole. The first three games all went to a deuce point with Columbia taking the first two, but Huang and Ito fought back to tie it, 2-2, before extending to 5-2.
The Longhorns have yet another top-15 opponent coming up Sunday with No. 15 USC visiting the Texas Tennis Center at 2 p.m. This will be the second time the teams have met this season after Texas took a 4-0 sweep at the ITA National Indoor Championship in Chicago on Feb. 16.
No. 3 Texas 6, No. 12 Columbia 1
Singles – Order of Finish (2,1,3,4,6,5)
1. #6 Christian Sigsgaard (UT) def. #41 Victor Pham (CU), 6-4, 6-3
2. #9 Yuya Ito (UT) def. #16 Jack Lin (CU), 6-3, 6-1
3. #104 Leonardo Telles (UT) def. #91 Adam Ambrozy (CU), 6-2, 6-4
4. Rian Pandole (CU) def. #59 Harrison Scott (UT), 6-4, 6-3
5. Colin Markes (UT) def. Timothy Wang (CU), 2-6, 6-3, 4-3 (10-8)
6. Chih Chi Huang (UT) def. Austen Huang (CU), 6-1, 7-5
Doubles – Order of Finish (1,2)
1. #7 Christian Sigsgaard/Harrison Scott (UT) def. #12 Jack Lin/William Matheson (CU), 6-1
2. Colin Markes/Leonardo Telles (UT) def. Adam Ambrozy/Austen Huang (CU), 6-2
3. Yuya Ito/Chih Chi Huang (UT) vs. Victor Pham/Rian Pandole (CU), 5-2, unfinished
Players Mentioned
