The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
TCU
No. 4 Men’s Tennis takes 6-1 road win at No. 10 TCU
04.06.2019 | Men's Tennis
The Longhorns swept all six singles matches for their fifth top-10 win of the season.
Austin, Texas – The No. 4 Texas Men's Tennis team went on the road for the first time in eight matches and the first time in Big 12 play and secured a 6-1 win over No. 10 TCU in Fort Worth on Saturday.
It was the Longhorns' fifth win over a top-10 team this season and advanced their record to 20-2 overall and 3-0 in the Big 12. The 20-2 mark equals the team's best record through 22 matches since 2010. It also snapped a four-match winning streak for the Horned Frogs in the series.
"It was a great match today and we have so much respect for how good TCU is," interim head coach Bruce Berque said. "These seniors had never beaten TCU until today and it was important to be able to get a road win at such a difficult place to play. We didn't start well in doubles, but to then turn around and win all of the singles was really impressive. I really liked the way we competed."
After dropping the doubles point for just the fourth time this season, Texas stormed back and swept the six singles matches. As he is prone to do, junior No. 5 Yuya Ito got things started for the Longhorns with the equalizing point by taking a 6-4, 6-2 win over No. 20 Alastair Gray in second singles. It was Ito's 10th-stratight singles win, including four over top-20 foes and six against top-40 competition. With the first set tied, 4-4, Ito went on a run of five-straight games to take the set, along with a 3-0 lead in the second. Gray pulled within 4-2, but that would be as close as he would get as Ito took a deuce-point game to finish the match. Ito extended his team lead in dual match singles wins to 20 against just one loss.
Senior No. 90 Leonardo Telles followed Ito and gave Texas a 2-1 lead with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Reese Stalder in third singles. After having his seven-match winning streak snapped in his last outing, Telles rebounded for his 11th dual match win of the year. Telles trailed, 3-2 in the first set, but went on a 4-0 run to take the frame. The second set stayed on serve all the way to a 6-5 lead for Telles when he was able to break serve on Stalder and finish the match.
The next match to finish was senior Colin Markes, who grabbed a 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 win over Luc Fomba at fifth singles. Markes took the first set quickly by jumping out to a 3-1 lead and then running off the last three games after Fomba got within 3-2. The second set was the opposite as Fomba got out to a 4-1 advantage before completing the 6-2 set. In the third set, Markes once again moved in front, 3-1. Fomba closed to within 4-3 and the players went to deuce point in the next game, but Markes took the point and the 5-3 lead before the players swapped games for the Texas win and 3-1 lead. Markes is now 13-2 in dual match singles play.
The clincher came at first singles where junior No. 7 Christian Sigsgaard also extended to three sets with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over No. 4 Alex Rybakov. Sigsgaard got out in front, 2-1, in the first set, but Rybakov took the next three games for a 4-2 lead that he held to a 6-4 win. From there, Sigsgaard took over. He moved out to a 4-1 lead to open the set and held that advantage to a 6-3 win. He was even more impressive in the third set, opening a 5-1 lead before winning the last game on a deuce point. It was Sigsgaard's second straight road win over a top-five opponent after topping No. 5 Jan Zielinski of Georgia on March 3. He has now faced 16 ranked opponents in dual match play this season and is 10-4 with two unfinished.
The teams played out the singles matches with senior No. 61 Harrison Scott taking the fifth point for Texas with a 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 victory over Bertus Kruger in fourth singles. Scott captured the first set quickly after pushing to a 4-1 lead that he made 5-2 on a deuce point leading to the win. He held a 5-4 lead in the second set before Kruger evened it on serve and then broke for a 6-5 lead before winning, 7-5. Scott repeated his first-set performance in the third set by taking a 4-1 lead that led to a 6-2 win. Scott is now 13-5 in singles in dual matches this season.
Senior Rodrigo Banzer capped the singles sweep with a 7-6 (4), 4-6, 1-0 (7) win over Sander Jong at sixth singles. The first set was tight the entire way to the tiebreaker where Banzer took a 4-1 lead. Jong closed to within 5-4, but Banzer finished it in the next two points. The second set was also close throughout with Banzer holding the edge on serve until Jong secured a break on a deuce point game for a 5-4 lead that he turned into a 6-4 win. The players went to a super breaker for the third set and once again Banzer got out in front, 3-1, but Jong answered to even it at 5-5. Banzer then re-extended to an 8-5 lead en route to a 10-7 win.
TCU captured its only point of the match in doubles to begin the day. The No. 45 duo of Gray and Rybakov topped No. 3 Scott and Sigsgaard, 6-4, in first doubles, while the No. 13 pair of Kruger and Stalder downed Markes and Telles, 6-3, at second doubles. Ito and freshman Chih Chi Huang were leading their match against Fomba and Jong, 5-3, when it went unfinished.
The Longhorns will return to the road for their last two regular season matches of the season that will take place in Oklahoma with contests at No. 34 Oklahoma State on April 12 and at No. 17 Oklahoma on April 14.
No. 4 Texas 6, No. 10 TCU 1
Singles – Order of Finish (2,3,5,1,4,6)
1. #7 Christian Sigsgaard (UT) def. #4 Alex Rybakov (TCU), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
2. #5 Yuya Ito (UT) def. #20 Alastair Gray (TCU), 6-4, 6-2
3. #90 Leonardo Telles (UT) def. Reese Stalder (TCU), 6-3, 7-5
4. #61 Harrison Scott (UT) def. Bertus Kruger (TCU), 6-2, 5-7, 6-2
5. Colin Markes (UT) def. Luc Fomba (TCU), 6-2, 2-6, 6-4
6. Rodrigo Banzer (UT) def. Sander Jong (TCU), 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 1-0 (10-7)
Doubles – Order of Finish (1,2)
1. #45 Alastair Gray/Alex Rybakov (TCU) def. #3 Harrison Scott/Christian Sigsgaard (UT), 6-4
2. #13 Bertus Kruger/Reese Stalder (TCU) def. Colin Markes/Leonardo Telles (UT), 6-3
3. Chih Chi Huang/Yuya Ito (UT) vs. Luc Fomba/Sander Jong (TCU), 5-3, unf.
Players Mentioned
