It was a tough weekend for the Oregon men’s tennis team.
Against the Arizona schools, the Ducks (6-13 overall, 0-4 Pacific-10 Conference) had to cope without the services of Markus Schiller and Mike Myrhed, two of their most productive players who are currently on the injured list. The result was not pretty.
On Friday, Arizona (11-7, 2-2) swept the Ducks 7-0 and Oregon lost all six singles matches in straight sets.
Playing No. 4 singles, junior Eric Pickard came closest to claiming a set for the Ducks. He dropped the first set 6-3 in his match against Bruno Alcala, but managed to push Alcala to a tiebreaker in the second set before falling 7-6 (7-4).
Against Arizona State on Sunday, Pickard’s persistence paid off, and the Ducks managed to avoid the sweep in their 6-1 loss to the Sun Devils.
Pickard narrowly lost the first set 7-6. He earned the second set win from Ryan McBride 6-4, and was rewarded with the victory when McBride retired because of an injury sustained late in the second set.
“We played better today than we did on Friday,” Oregon coach Kevin Kowalik said after the Arizona State match. “But three of our starters weren’t in the lineup, and that obviously made a difference.”
Aside from Schiller and Myrhed, freshman Fernando Freitas is another one of Oregon’s walking wounded. Freitas normally anchors the No. 6 singles position in the lineup and usually plays doubles with Thomas Bieri. A nagging quadriceps injury limited his contribution over the weekend to a doubles match against the Wildcats.
Freitas and Pickard lost 8-2 to Roger Matalonga and Francois VanderMerwe.
Kowalik identified a single bright spot in the Ducks’ current injury situation.
“Some guys are playing a lot higher in the lineup than they normally would,” he said. “That means they’re playing better competition, so they can only get better. They’re not winning and that’s kind of tough. But it’s good practice and good experience.”
Freshman Gustavo Loza, who normally plays No. 5 singles, played at No. 3 this weekend for only the third time this season. Loza lost 6-2, 6-2 to Arizona’s Claudio Christen and succumbed 6-2, 7-5 to the Sun Devils’ Nick Hegarty.
“Friday was the first match (played from the No. 3 position) that I really felt like I could have won,” Loza said. “In the matches before that one, I’d played two very good guys and they didn’t give me a chance. Against Arizona, I really felt like I had a chance.”
Despite his losses, Loza says he is enjoying his stint in the top half of the lineup.
“It gives me a chance to play guys who are much better than me, and to improve my game,” he said.
Freshman Hugh McDonald opened his Oregon singles career against the Wildcats from the No. 6 roster position. He lost 6-0, 6-4 to Peter Zimmer.
“I was pretty nervous at the start,” McDonald said. “The first set was pretty terrible. But then as the match went on, I got more energy and the second set was much better.”
Against the Sun Devils, McDonald ate the doughnut again, losing 6-0 in the first set. He persevered to push the score to 7-5 in the second.
“This time I just lacked a bit of concentration and energy and some court presence,” McDonald said. “I didn’t feel that comfortable in the first set, and in the second set I was up a break but couldn’t close it out.”
McDonald also got a taste of doubles play. In the match against Arizona, he paired up with junior Vlad Pino and the two almost pulled off a win. They lost a close match to Alcala and Zimmer, 6-5 (7-3).
On Sunday, McDonald and Pino once again found themselves on the losing end of a close scoreline. They were edged 8-6 by the Sun Devils’ Hegarty and McBride.
“Hugh and I had never played doubles together before this weekend,” Pino said. “And we weren’t supposed to do anything really. Nothing was really expected of us. But it turned out OK.
“We were close in both our matches and if we get to practice more together, it’ll be a lot better. We could probably win our next doubles match.”
This weekend marks the second time McDonald has traveled with the team this season.
“When the team’s traveling, they only take eight people. So I normally do a lot of work on my own with the strength and conditioning coach instead,” McDonald said. “At first I did wish that I’d get to travel with them, but I guess it just makes me want it more, want to work harder.”
Oregon hosts No. 11 UCLA Friday at 1:30 p.m.