The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
California
No. 2 Men’s Tennis advances to NCAA Championship quarterfinals
05.11.2019 | Men's Tennis
The Longhorns swept No. 24 Cal, 4-0, to reach the quarterfinals for the third time in the last six years and 16th time overall.
Austin, Texas – The No. 2 Texas Men's Tennis advanced to the NCAA Championship quarterfinals with a 4-0 sweep over No. 24 Cal on Saturday at the Texas Tennis Center. It is the third time in the last six years for the Longhorns to reach the quarterfinals and the 16th time overall.
The Longhorns, whose 26-3 record this season is their best through 29 matches since 2010 (27-2), will head to Orlando, Fla., where they will face the 10 seed and ninth-ranked TCU at 1 p.m. CT/2 p.m. ET on Thursday, May 16.
"It's not easy to get to this point," interim head coach Bruce Berque said. "To get to the final site was hard enough in previous years when you only had to reach the sweet 16. This year, you had to reach the final eight. These guys worked hard, and they competed hard just like they have all year, and they earned it. For these five seniors to have one more opportunity to play in front of their home crowd was really meaningful for them."
In a decisive performance, Texas dropped only one set across all of the matches, winning the doubles point and then capturing three straight-set wins by senior No. 55 Harrison Scott and juniors No. 7 Christian Sigsgaard and No. 12 Yuya Ito. All three players won their matches prior to the completion of the last first set, while senior Colin Markes was also sitting on triple match point when it ended.
After the Longhorns took a 1-0 lead in doubles, Scott got things started in singles with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Ben Draper at the fourth position to up the lead to 2-0. In the first set, the players were on serve until Scott earned a break to take a 3-1 lead. That was the first of three-straight breaks that left Scott up, 4-2, which he made 5-2 on serve in the next game before winning, 6-3. Draper held early leads on serve in the second set before Scott grabbed a break and a 3-2 lead. Much like the first set, it was the first of three breaks, leaving Scott up 4-3 before he again held to go up 5-3 and then take the victory. He is now 18-5 in dual match singles play this season.
Sigsgaard, Ito and Markes were then all up a set with five game wins in the second set simultaneously. It would be Sigsgaard finishing first at first singles as he closed out Yuta Kikuchi, 6-2, 6-4. Kikuchi actually took a 2-0 lead in the first set after breaking Sigsgaard in the opening game, but from there it was all Sigsgaard, as he went on a 7-0 run to take a 1-0 lead in the second. That set stayed on serve all the way to a 5-4 lead for Sigsgaard, but he would pick up a break in the last frame for the win and a 3-0 lead for Texas. It was only the third time in his last 20 matches Sigsgaard has played an unranked opponent and he is now 16-7 this season in dual match singles play.
Ito then claimed the clincher with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Jack Molloy at second singles. Similar to Sigsgaard, Ito got down early, 3-0, but turned it around on a 7-0 run for a 1-0 lead in the second. This match also stayed on serve after that up to a 3-2 lead for Ito when he broke Molloy and then held for a 5-2 lead. Molloy picked up one more game on a deuce point, but Ito finished the sweep for Texas in the next game, sending the team to the quarterfinals. Ito extended his team lead in dual match singles wins to 25 this season against just three losses.
Markes was the third-straight player to close out a first set on a 6-0 run as he won the frame, 6-1, over Jacob Brumm at fifth singles. Brumm responded with the first three games of the second set and was up 4-1 when Markes turned it back on with a 4-0 run for a 5-4 lead. He was on triple match point at 40-15 when the overall match ended. In the two remaining matches, senior Rodrigo Banzer split sets with Bjorn Hoffman, 6-3, 1-6, at sixth singles, while senior Leonardo Telles was up 4-2 in a first-set tiebreaker at third singles.
In doubles, Ito and freshman Chih Chi Huang got off to a fast start at third doubles thanks to winning the first three games on deuce points against Molloy and Draper. The Cal pair picked up the next game, but Huang and Ito finished like they started, with three straight games, for the 6-1 win. It was a photo finish to clinch the point as No. 5 Scott and Sigsgaard got home just head of Markes and Telles, who were sitting on a deuce match point against Barretto and Can Kaya when play stopped. Scott and Sigsgaard stayed on serve with No. 28 Kikuchi and Brumm up to a 3-2 lead, but picked up a break on the Cal duo for a 4-2 lead. Kikuchi and Brumm broke back on a deuce point, but Scott and Sigsgaard took their own deuce point in the next game and then finished the match, 6-3.
No. 2 Texas 4, No. 24 California 0
Singles – Order of Finish (4,1,2)
1. #7 Christian Sigsgaard (UT) def. Yuta Kikuchi (CAL), 6-2, 6-4
2. #12 Yuya Ito (UT) def. Jack Molloy (CAL), 6-3, 6-3
3. #80 Leonardo Telles (UT) vs. Paul Barretto (CAL), 6-6, unf.
4. #55 Harrison Scott (UT) def. Ben Draper (CAL), 6-3, 6-3
5. Colin Markes (UT) vs. Jacob Brumm (CAL), 6-1, 5-4, unf.
6. Rodrigo Banzer (UT) vs. Bjorn Hoffmann (CAL), 6-3, 1-6, unf.
Doubles – Order of Finish (3,1)
1. #5 Harrison Scott/Christian Sigsgaard (UT) def. #28 Yuta Kikuchi/Jacob Brumm (CAL), 6-3
2. Colin Markes/Leonardo Telles (UT) vs. Paul Barretto/Can Kaya (CAL), 5-3, unf.
3. Chih Chi Huang/Yuya Ito (UT) def. Jack Molloy/Ben Draper (CAL), 6-1
(UT)
Players Mentioned
