After a promising start, Oregon men’s tennis (14-11, 5-9 Big Ten) took an unfortunate turn in the final month of the season and fell short of the NCAA Tournament. Its Big Ten record was identical to last year, while its overall record improved a game and a half.

On March 21, the Ducks were at 13-3 and 4-1 since the start of Big Ten play. From there, they faced eight higher-ranked opponents and could not pull off an upset against any of them. They went 10-0 at home through most of the season before losing their final four home matches, three of which were against top 25 opponents. Oregon’s biggest win of the year was its first in-conference, when it beat No. 42 Northwestern 4-1 on the road.

Oregon’s roster will look very different next year with three of its main players graduating. Vlad Breazu held the No. 1 spot in the singles lineup for the majority of the season. He finished the year 13-5. He went 12-6 in doubles, primarily with Declan Galligan and once with Cameron Burton.

Pierre Mouesca was the No. 2 singles player for Oregon for most of the season, posting a record of 11-8. He and Matthew Burton spent the better part of the year as the No. 1 doubles pair for the Ducks, where they went 14-6. Mouesca also had a
brief stint with Lachlan Robertson, where they went 2-1.

In addition to Mouesca, Robertson was partnered with Sam Olszakowski and Cameron Burton in doubles. He finished the season 11-8 overall. In singles, he spent most of the year in the No. 5 spot. He went 9-8, which included two winner-take-all matches against Utah State University and Indiana. Oregon will have big shoes to fill without those three leaders, but it will also have a fair number of players returning to the team. Matthew will most likely be the top player in his final season. He bounced between the third and fourth spots in the singles lineup, posting a record of 10-6. His absence at the end of the season due to undisclosed personal reasons likely played a role in Oregon’s first round exit from the Big Ten Tournament.

Matthew’s brother, Cameron, had a promising freshman season. He went 6-3 in singles, mostly in the No. 6 spot. In doubles, he and Robertson posted a 9-6 record. Cameron also partnered briefly with Olszakowski and Breazu. He finished the season 11-10 overall in doubles.

Russell Soohoo will be the other player entering his final season of college. He did not see the court in every match, but when given the opportunity, he did not disappoint. Soohoo played in just one doubles match, which he won alongside Galligan. In singles, Soohoo went 9-6 between the fifth and sixth spots in the lineup. He will look to take on a bigger role with the team in his final season.

Galligan was the other freshman who made an immediate impact with the team. He struggled in singles, going 1-4. In doubles, he went 13-6, mostly with Breazu, but a couple of times with Soohoo and Daniel Hughes, another freshman who will look to take a bigger leap next year.

Oregon will have some rebuilding to do this offseason. Regardless of what the team looks like next year, its biggest challenge will once again come against the ranked Big Ten slate in the second half of the season.