Strong performances by veteran and rookie tennis players made for a good showing in the men’s tennis team’s season opener.
Five Ducks made the trip to Fresno, Calif., for the Wathen/Hancock Bulldog Classic, a three-day tournament.
Sophomore Oded Teig had an outstanding tournament. Teig finished second overall at the 64-player tournament.
“Oded had a very good tournament,” men’s tennis coach Chris Russell said. “He played at a new level. He was solid from start to finish.”
The native of Holon, Israel, won five matches in three days to reach the singles final, where he fell to the No. 2 seed, David Mullins of host Fresno State.
Teig cruised through the first two rounds of play on Friday, easily defeating Sacramento State’s Joseph Gilbert 6-1, 7-5, and Alex Menichini of Fresno State 6-3, 6-2.
Teig then moved himself into the finals round on Saturday by upsetting consecutive seeded players in the quarterfinals. Pacific’s Claus Lindholm was his first victim, falling in straight sets to Teig by identical scores of 6-4. Teig defeated Andrez Biznak of Washington 6-4, 6-3, to move into the semifinal.
On Sunday, Teig moved into the championship final with a defeat of tournament “Cinderella” Alex Fiedler of Pacific. Fiedler lost the first set 6-1, before retiring.
Teig battled Mullins through the first set, but fell by a narrow score of 7-6. Mullins then took the decisive set 6-3 for the championship.
“Oded’s conditioning has helped him greatly,” Russell said. “His level of play didn’t fall off, neither did his quickness.”
Highly touted freshman Buck Mink was the only other Duck to make it out of the first round. The newcomer from Texas defeated Nevada’s Jay Stearly in straight sets 6-1, 6-3. Mink then fell to California’s Scott Kintz 6-4, 6-4.
Oregon newcomer Chris King rebounded from a first-round loss with three consolation round wins.
The freshman from Salinas, Calif., defeated Santa Clara’s Jack Fleming 6-1, 6-3 on Friday. On Saturday, using modified scoring, King defeated Sacramento State’s Josh Prince 8-6 and Washington’s Matt Leon 8-4. King was eliminated by Cal’s Andrey Vinogradski 8-3.
“The new guys showed what they’re capable of doing,” Russell said. “Chris really showed that he’s understanding the system.”
Senior David Becker and sophomore Jason Menke were eliminated in three matches.
The Ducks were unsuccessful in doubles play, as both Oregon teams were eliminated on Saturday. The team of Menke and Mink lost to Pacific’s duo of Thomas Abrahamson and Claus Lindholm 8-6, while Teig and Becker fell to Chase Exxon and Steve Raccioppi of Pepperdine 8-5.
Oregon will have the next three weeks off before competing in the International Tennis Association’s Regional tournament in Berkeley, Calif.
The Ducks will face some of the same opponents later in the season. Fresno State, Washington, Pacific and Santa Clara are all on the Oregon schedule.