The play of the Oregon men and women’s doubles teams has been the overriding fear so far in the first weeks of the dual match season.
With seven points up for grabs in a dual match, Oregon has taken the advantage after three doubles matches to win the first point. The Ducks have carried that momentum from doubles into the six singles matches, each worth one point as well.
The men, who are a perfect 4-0 this year, are just as perfect in doubles matches, racking up a 12-0 record.
“We started off well in doubles and that carried over into (our) singles (matches),” assistant coach Ross Duncan said after Saturday’s win against Louisiana-Lafayette.
The No. 2 doubles team, composed of sophomore Thomas Bieri and junior Manuel Kost, has dominated its opponents. Behind Bieri’s power from his 6-foot-6 frame and Kost’s all-around game, the Swiss duo won 32 of 38 games played without having lost more than two games in a set.
“We played really good doubles,” Kost said. “We have hit good returns and good serving, which is the most important thing in doubles.”
Junior Sven Swinnen has demonstrated signs of stepping up, which has earned him the No. 1 singles position. Swinnen defeated two ranked players — No. 82 Erik Nyman from Brigham Young and No. 88 Evghenii Corduneau of Louisiana-Lafayette — in straight sets last week. He has compiled an 8-0 record in the dual match season so far, teaming up with sophomore Arron Spencer at the No. 1 doubles slot.
Last weekend the Ducks won three non-conference matches in four days at home against quality opponents.
“The guys were great this (past) weekend,” head coach Chris Russell said. “Going in, we knew this was going to test us. These are some teams we have had problems with in the past, so to win in the manner we did was really good for us.”
The men will continue their play at home when Idaho visits Saturday at 12 p.m. in the Student Tennis Center.

Women also undefeated
The women have been equally as impressive as the men, if not more so, in losing only two points in the three dual matches played. The Ducks swept past their opponents in matches against Colorado and Nevada with 7-0 victories to improve to their 3-0 record.
One of the surprises is freshman sensation Dominika Dieskova, who has held her own at the No. 2 singles position behind junior Daria Panova, who is currently ranked eighth in the nation. Dieskova has a 6-0 dual match record that includes a straight set singles victory over No. 53 Anna Erikson of Sacramento State.
In addition to Dieskova, five other Ducks have undefeated dual match records, including Panova and seniors Courtney Nagle and Davina Mendiburu.