The Student Tennis Center was lit up from what felt like early dawn until dusk, with the Ducks (9-2) defending their home courts from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m. Oregon came back from a 0-3 deficit to defeat the University of Nebraska (6-4) 4-3 in a four-hour and 20-minute match. The morning’s marathon was followed by a swift 4-0 singles-sprint past Portland State University (2-3).
The Ducks were down early to the Cornhuskers, dropping a doubles point and then two singles matches.
“I saw the scoreboard was three to zero for Nebraska, but then I saw my boys coming back,” Oregon’s Vlad Breazu said. “So I told myself it’s not over until it’s over.”
Since receiving their No. 31 national ranking last week, Oregon’s top tandem has been 0-2. Matthew Burton and Quinn Vandecasteele could not settle into a groove against Anton Shepp and Nic Wiedenhorn, losing 2-6.
The added pressure on Burton to compensate for Vandecasteele’s lingering elbow injury may be a factor. Still, both players struggled with low first-serve percentages and slow reaction times at the net.
Lachlan Robertson and Avi Shugar gave the Ducks hope for doubles on Court 3 when they defeated Nebraska’s Shunya Maruyama and Leo Linquet 6-4. On Court 2, David Cierny and Ray Lo were within one game of victory, leading Lars Johann and Calvin Mueller 5-2, but the Huskers worked their way back, forcing a tiebreak and clinching the point with a 6-7 (7-9) decision.
At No. 2 singles, Nebraska’s Shepp, recently ranked nationally at No. 113 in singles, earned his ninth spring win over Oregon’s Cierny. Regardless of Shepp’s strong statistics, Cierny lacked energy and appeared devoid of a desire to challenge his opponent. The Ducks’ graduate-transfer lost 3-6, 1-6.
Meanwhile, on the court adjacent to Cierny, Burton battled his way back from a set-down and 0-5 in the second. The fans motivated the Australian by echoing “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oy, Oy, Oy” chants, which got in the Husker’s head. Burton won five games straight, equalizing the second set at 5-5. The first-year ultimately could not complete the comeback, losing 3-6, 5-7.
The Ducks were down 0-3, which left it up to Nos. 1, 3, 5 and 6 to get the job done. Just one loss at those spots would break Oregon’s perfect record at home.
But the Ducks would not be conquered.
After splitting sets, Vandecasteele regained focus and showed why he is Oregon’s top contender. The captain quickly seized the momentum in the third set and put the Ducks on the board with a 6-4, 1-6, 6-1 win over Calvin Mueller.
Both No. 5 and 6 singles were tight; the freshmen-Ducks were trading games back-and-forth with their respective foes. On Court 5, Lenn Luemkemann found his way past Nic Wiedenhorn, winning 7-6 (7-5), 6-4. Zian Vanderstappen secured a similar two-set, tiebreak victory, bringing the match to 3-3.
The Belgian’s win inspired a mass-migration of fans and players to Court 5, where Breazu was down a set and fighting his way through a second-set tiebreak. The sophomore saved two match points and had four set-point opportunities in the tight tiebreak. The crowd was on the edge of their seats as Breazu put his foot on the gas.
“I saw him get tired a bit, so I really want to push,” Breazu said. “I knew that if I got the tiebreak, I would have a good chance to win the third set.”
Breazu made it through 12-10 in the tiebreak. After he won the second set, the crowd cleared out, but the match was far from over — a whole third set stood in between the Ducks and a home-court victory. Breazu had to find a way to fight.
“I’ve lost a couple of matches in the past by not going for my shots,” Breazu said. “I told myself I had to go big even if I would win or lose.” He did just that. After nine competitive games, the Duck completed his comeback over one exhausted Husker. Oregon is now 4-0 against Big Ten schools this spring season.
“We showed a lot of grit in singles,” head coach Nils Schyllander said. “It was exciting to see our two freshmen and a sophomore step up and get it done for us.”
With only a two-hour break before the Ducks second match of the day versus Portland State, Schyllander requested the boys to use the time to rest and “take a breath.” Given the long morning match, he asked the Portland State coach if the team could play singles round first.
Oregon won its singles matches in straight-sets. No. 6 Lo and No. 3 Vanderstappen both secured swift 6-1, 6-1 wins over the Vikings.
Vandecasteele extended the Ducks lead to 3-0, delivering a dominant 6-4, 6-1 win over Jan Semerak on Court 1. Shortly after, Luemkemann, who is 9-1 in the spring season, clinched the match winning 6-1, 6-2 over Hubert Theriault.
Saturday’s home matches were a sweet sendoff for the Oregon men, who will play on the road for the remainder of February and March. The Ducks fly south to San Diego on Friday to take on Cal Poly and the No. 18 San Diego.
“I think we’ve shown, especially today, that we can compete at a high level,” Schyllander said. “I am looking forward to next weekend.
