Finals matches in tennis always bring a sense of urgency.
For Jayson Amos and Simon Stevens, however, Monday’s doubles final in Berkeley, California, in the USTA/ITA Northwest Regional Championships brought extra motivation.
The two played for a in the ITA National Indoor Championships in New York, but came up just short, dropping the doubles final to the duo from Stanford, 6-0, 6-7(2), 0-1(8).
“They got within match point for the championship,” said head coach Nils Schyllander in a news release. “Sometimes sports are cruel”
After an 8-6 victory over host California in the semifinals on Sunday, the Amos and Stevens carried their momentum over to Monday, rolling to a 6-0 win in the opening set.
The winning ways would stop there. After bringing the second set to 6-6 and forcing a tie breaker, Stanford’s doubles team of Sameer Kumar and Yvale Goldberg ultimately won the set, leveling the score at 1-1. In the final and deciding set, the Ducks came close — bringing it to match point — but unable to close it out in the end.
Oregon tennis has roughly two weeks off. The Ducks head to Las Vegas on Nov. 4-6 to compete in the Easley Memorial.
Coming within match point of the regional title and a spot at the National Indoor championships can’t sit well with Amos and Stevens, but that didn’t stop Schyllander from singing their praises.
“Simon and Jason played their hearts out all week,” said Schyllander in the release. “[Monday’s loss] does not take away from what these two exceptional student-athletes accomplished.”
Follow Cole Kundich on Twitter @colesportsUO