The wait is finally over; tennis is back in town.
The Oregon men’s tennis team came out swinging and swept the homestand weekend to start its dual season 3-0.
It’s a new year full of newcomers who seem to be changing the tone and atmosphere of Duck tennis in Eugene. On Friday night, the freshly mounted scoreboards beamed bright with winning records. The indoor lights of the Student Tennis Center shined down on the action across all of the courts and illuminated the people packed on the bleachers. The energy was electric from the start and did not sizzle out until Seattle University left the STC on Sunday.
To begin the dual schedule, the Ducks delivered an impressive 4-3 victory over the Purdue University Boilermakers.
Despite dropping an early doubles point to the Ducks, Oregon’s future Big 10 foe responded quickly in singles play — tying the match 3-3.
Three Oregon freshmen started in the singles lineup: Zian Vanderstappen at No. 3, Matthew Burton at No. 4 and Lenn Luemkemann at No. 6. Yet, only one of them secured a win.
“I could tell the freshmen were really nervous out there today,” head coach Nils Schyllander said. “Anytime you play in your first college match, everything is so different and it takes time to get used to.”
Rallying behind the victorious first-year Luemkemann on court six, was Oregon’s new assistant coach, Petros Alex. The sound of their clap after each point the German won, echoed throughout the facility. Fans were fired up over everything that was going down.
“The crowd was amazing; I don’t think I would have won without them,” said Luemkemann, who beat Mujtaba Ali-Khan, 6-2, 7-5. “Also, Petros was incredible today. He was always pumping fists with me; it was awesome.”
Sophomore and singles standout, Breazu, clinched the match for the Ducks in a thrilling third set against Alexander Ekstrand — sealing the team win.
Oregon had a brief day off to rest and recover for Sunday’s double-header where action was underway at 10 a.m.
To start the day, the Ducks took down the University of the Pacific, 4-0. At the No. 1 spot, veteran Quinn Vandecasteele and newcomer Matthew Burton defeated the No. 19-ranked doubles team in the nation: Justas Trainauskas and Peter Alam. Burton handed the Tigers’ tandem some tough serves, while Vandecasteele finished crucial points up at net.
To clinch the initial point and set the tone for the rest of the match, Ray Lo and graduate transfer David Cerny narrowly escaped Terence Das and Tiago Silva, 7-6, (7-1). The Tigers’ chants for Silva, which are reminiscent of the “Oh, Thiago Silva” song Chelsea fans sing for the Brazilian soccer player, did not distract Lo or Cerny.
Lo remained similarly relaxed and steady in singles. The senior was the first match off in singles, after quickly beating Ran Amar, 6-2, 6-0.
“I just told myself, every single point matters. The job is not done, yet,” Lo said. “This mindset helped me stay focused today.”
To close out the match, Vandecasteele and Luemkemann both won in straight sets against Trainauskas and Andre Rodeia, respectively. Cerny, Burton and Breazu’s matches went unfinished.
Team chemistry and individual confidence carried through to the afternoon, as Oregon eased past Seattle University, blanking the Redhawks 7-0. The Ducks tested out some new pairings and put different players in the singles lineup.
Oregon’s Matvey Greschner and sophomore transfer Lachlan Robertson had the first win when they defeated Yu-Han Hsieh and Jun Sasagawa, 6-2. Shortly after, Vandecasteele and Burton clinched the doubles point with their second win of the day over Veselin Kiselkov and Dario Ristovski, 6-3.
In singles play, Burton secured the first singles point from the No. 3 position, taking a 6-2, 6-0 win over Ristovski. Freshman and Belgium native, Vanderstappen, moved up to the No. 2 spot, bringing the match to a close going 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.
“I am really happy that our freshmen and newcomers played a lot looser,” Schyllander said. “It was great to see all of them mature over just a few days.”
The Ducks will head to Columbus, Ohio, for the ITA Kickoff Weekend where they will face Boise State and Ohio State on Jan. 26 and 28, respectively.
“Our goal is to play with this past weekend’s energy at the Kickoff,” Schyllander said. “If we do that, we will be just fine.”
Oregon will return to its home court on Feb. 10 to face Nevada at 11 a.m.
