After playing two matches the previous two days, there was reason to believe that the Oregon men’s tennis team would be a little sluggish for Sunday’s match against New Mexico.
That notion was quickly erased as the Ducks not only put together their best doubles performance, but dominated the Lobos in singles play from start to finish, sweeping New Mexico 7-0 to clinch a 3-0 weekend.
Thomas Laurent and doubles partner Emmanuel Coste took the doubles point advantage 6-2 while Ty Gentry and Joshua Charlton clinched the point 6-4, leaving Armando Soemarno and Charles Roberts’ match unfinished tied at 5-5.
“I thought doubles was a little bit better than the last two days,” Laurent said. “We had a little bit more positive energy.”
While all six singles matches went just two sets, both Laurent and Charlton only dropped one set each, shutting out their opponents in the first set.
Laurent was in control from the beginning of singles play, winning the first 11 games of his match against No. 23 Ricky Hernandez Tong.
Laurent’s win is his third straight, and brings him to 13 on the season. His career total now sits at 88, which is six shy of breaking Jayson Amos’ program record for career wins.
“To be honest, I didn’t really know,” Laurent said. “I knew I was close, but I didn’t know the exact number. … I’m not focusing too much on my record or the long term goal, I’m just taking it one match at a time.”
Laurent, a senior from France, has also spent time helping newcomers Charlton, a freshman from Australia, and Coste, a sophomore from France, with the challenges collegiate dual matches bring.
“I’m just trying to help them a little bit with college tennis,” Laurent said. “It’s a little bit different. We’re not use to playing a team sport when we came from Europe and everything. Emmanuel and I are pretty close so we talk a lot. I think the match he won two days ago, the clinch was huge for him.”
Charlton is now 6-0 in dual meets and continues to impress his coaches and teammates.
“I feel like Josh is pretty mature when he’s on the court,” Laurent said. “He seems like he knows where he’s going. He is just super focused all the time so it’s easy to do well.”
With the score 3-0, Gentry clinched the match for Oregon, defeating Stephan Holis 5-2, 6-4. The win is Gentry’s seventh in a row, and fourth since his promotion to the No. 3 position.
“Just confidence in the game I think is big for me, because coaches have told me since freshman year that I have the ability, it’s just I’ve got to own it and trust it,” Gentry said. “I’m trusting it and owning it just like they’re saying and it’s giving me success so I can’t complain with it.”
Following Gentry’s match clincher, Roberts (7-6, 6-2), Oshima (7-6, 6-3) and Coste (7-6, 6-4) won their matches to give the Ducks their third 7-0 win of the year.
The Ducks will remain at home next weekend, hosting Boise State on Friday at 3 p.m. and Louisville on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Follow Maverick Pallack on Twitter @mavpallack
