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No. 2 Men’s Tennis advances to NCAA Championship finals
05.18.2019 | Men's Tennis
The Longhorns reach the finals for the second time in school history after last making it in 2008.
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Orlando, Fla. – The No. 2 Texas Men's Tennis team advanced to the finals of the NCAA Championship for the second time in school history with a 4-2 win over No. 4 Florida in Orlando on Saturday.
In front of loud crowd made up predominantly of Florida fans in their home state on the USTA National Campus, the Longhorns prevailed in an exciting match that came down to the last two singles courts. Senior Leonardo Telles got the clinching point to send Texas to the finals for the first time in 2008. It was also the Longhorns' 28th win of the season, marking the most for Texas since 1974 (31).
"I think there were a lot of difference makers today," interim head coach Bruce Berque said. "One was the doubles. I was really proud of the way the guys stepped up in doubles, especially at No. 3 doubles. It was an up and down see-saw match, but at the end they really stepped up and played aggressive tennis. Then, of course, the thing we finished with was Leo Telles. That's like the third or fourth time he's done that for us this year. How he stepped up, attacked and played big, in a big moment was pretty impressive. I couldn't be happier for him and the seniors and the whole team."
Texas opened in dramatic fashion in winning the doubles. No. 5 senior Harrison Scott and junior Christian Sigsgaard got home first with a 6-3 win over Johannes Ingildsen and McClain Kessler at first doubles. Deuce points abounded as they decided the first four games and five of the first six. Scott and Sigsgaard claimed the first two before Ingildsen and Kessler evened it. The Texas duo retook the lead at 3-2, and then Florida answered on the fifth deuce point. From there though, Scott and Sigsgaard rolled off three-straight games for the win have now won six of their last seven matches against ranked opponents.
Both of the other two contests were tied, 5-5, with Florida then establishing 6-5 leads in both. The clincher would could at third doubles with freshman Chih Chi Huang and Yuya Ito battling back first to take a deuce point to equalize at 6-6, then winning convincingly in the tiebreaker, 7-1, over Duarte Vale and Andres Andrade. Both pairs broke in the first two games with Texas first and then Florida. The next two games went back on serve, both through deuce points, and then the match saw another pair of breaks, again Texas then Florida for a 3-3 tie. From there it back on serve the rest of the way to the tiebreaker where Huang and Ito jumped out to 4-0 lead and did not look back for the clinch.
The last doubles match at second doubles between senior Colin Markes and Leonardo Telles was left unfinished with them trailing Oliver Crawford and Alfredo Perez, 5-6. The Texas duo fought back from a 3-0 deficit to tie the match, 3-3, which stayed on serve up to the point play stopped.
In singles, No. 12 Ito once again got things started for Texas as he has so often during the year, downing No. 54 Sam Riffice, 6-2, 6-2, at second singles. Both sets followed similar tracks as Ito got out to 4-0 leads in both with Riffice picking up the next game in both. Ito moved it to 5-1 in the first set before finishing 6-2, while in the second set Riffice won the second of back-to-back deuce points to get within 4-2 before Ito closed it at 6-2 for the 2-0 overall lead. Ito leads the team with 27 dual match singles wins to only three losses, all of which came against ranked foes, with 12 wins over ranked opponents.
Senior Rodrigo Banzer got home next with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Kessler at sixth singles. Kesseler got out to a 2-1 lead on serve, and when Banzer held in the next game it was the start of a 5-0 run to take the set, capped by two deuce point games. In the second set it was Banzer who would take a 3-1 lead on a deuce point. Kessler got one game back, but Banzer captured the next two with the second on a deuce point to lead, 5-2. Kessler attempted to answer one more time, pulling within 5-4, but that's when Banzer sealed it for a 3-0 lead for Texas. Banzer has now gone 8-1 in his last 11 matches.
At that point, Florida began a comeback attempt as No. 9 Crawford defeated No. 7 Sigsgaard, 6-4, 6-3, at first singles, and No. 59 Andrade used a first-set tiebreaker to down Markes, 7-6 (4), 6-4, at fifth singles to pull within 3-2.
That set the stage once again for No. 80 Telles to clinch, as he has done so often. Facing No. 113 Ingildsen in third singles, Telles grabbed an early break from a 2-1 lead that he extended to 3-1 on serve. The set stayed on serve up to a 4-3 lead for Telles when Ingildsen broke back to even it. However in the next game, Telles won a deuce point on serve and then broke for the win. In the second set, it was Ingildsen who picked up an early break for a 3-1 lead, however Telles answered with his own break and held to even it, 3-3. The players stayed on serve from there to 5-5 when Telles broke and then held, including two aces in the final game, to send his teammates spilling on the court. In the one remaining match, No. 55 Scott was even Perez, 6-4, 3-6, 3-3 when play stopped.
Texas now awaits the winner of the match between No. 3 (4 seed) Wake Forest and No. 10 (9 seed) North Carolina. The finals match will be at 2 p.m. CT/3 p.m. ET and will air on the Tennis Channel.
No. 2 (2 seed) Texas 4, No. 4 (3 seed) Florida 2
Singles – Order of Finish (2,6,1,5,3)
1. #9 Oliver Crawford (UF) def. #7 Christian Sigsgaard (UT), 6-4, 6-3
2. #12 Yuya Ito (UT) def. #54 Sam Riffice (UF), 6-2, 6-2
3. #80 Leonardo Telles (UT) def. #113 Johannes Ingildsen (UF), 6-4, 7-5
4. #55 Harrison Scott (UT) vs. Alfredo Perez (UF), 6-4, 3-6, 3-3, unf.
5. #59 Andres Andrade (UF) def. Colin Markes (UT), 7-6 (4), 6-4
6. Rodrigo Banzer (UT) def. McClain Kessler (UF) 6-2, 6-4
Doubles – Order of Finish (1,3)
1. #5 Christian Sigsgaard/Harrison Scott (UT) def. Johannes Ingildsen/McClain Kessler (UF), 6-3
2. Colin Markes/Leonardo Telles (UT) vs. Oliver Crawford/Alfredo Perez (UF), 5-6, unf.
3. Chih Chi Huang/Yuya Ito (UT) def. Duarte Vale/Andres Andrade (UF), 7-6 (1)
Players Mentioned
