Despite many opportunities to win its first Pacific-10 Conference match in two years, the Oregon men’s tennis team dropped two heartbreakers at home last weekend.
The Ducks lost 5-2 to Arizona State on Friday and 4-3 to Arizona on Saturday. Against the Wildcats, Oregon lost all three doubles matches by 8-6 margins, which proved to be the difference.
Trailing 1-0, junior Oded Teig, freshman Sven Swinnen and sophomore Greg Dubourdieu won their matches in two sets to take a 3-1 lead. But sophomore Chris King and junior Jason Menke lost their matches 6-4, 6-4, and 6-1, 6-2, respectively, to even the score at three.
The match came down to the No. 1 singles match between freshman Manuel Kost and Arizona’s Steven Capriati, a senior. Kost won the first set, 7-5, but lost the second, 6-4, and the third, 6-2.
“I was nervous at the beginning of the third set,” said Kost, who was playing in only his third Pac-10 match. “I looked up and noticed that (King) lost his match and I knew it came down to me. I played tight, and I wasn’t getting my first serves in and the other guy was.”
Head coach Chris Russell said that he has confidence in Kost to perform under pressure even though he’s a freshman.
“I know he was nervous out there, but he’ll get more comfortable as he plays in more tough situations,” Russell said. “It’s part of the evolution of a player. He should want to be in that situation. That’s what college tennis is about.”
Russell said he was pleased by his team’s performance in singles, but said it would need to improve in doubles if they are to win in the Pac-10.

“There wasn’t enough discipline on the doubles court,” Russell said. “To win in the Pac-10, it’s all about the details and discipline. We need to be better in serving, returning and shot selection.”
The Ducks played better in doubles against the Sun Devils. Kost and King won their match, 8-4, but Menke and freshman Johan Paalberg lost 8-2. Teig and Swinnen lost 9-8 in the deciding match.
“As a team, we were right there in doubles and had a great chance to take the lead,” Menke said.
But Oregon fell behind 1-0. Kost, Teig and Menke lost in the top three spots in singles to give Arizona State the victory. In the bottom of the order, Swinnen and King picked up wins.
“I was a little tentative at the beginning of the match,” said King after earning his first career Pac-10 win. “Everybody’s going to be good in the Pac-10, so it’s all mental and attention to detail. I made smart decisions in my shots and I was able to return most of his serves.”
The Ducks, the only Pac-10 team not ranked, fell to 12-7 overall (0-4 Pac-10). They are back in action Friday against No. 19 USC and face No. 2 UCLA on Saturday.
“Right now we need to get everybody together and practice hard next week,” Teig said. “As a team, we need to keep our heads up.”
The two losses were difficult for Russell to accept, but he said the team can take some things from the weekend.
“Nothing will be handed to our team,” he said. “They need to raise their intensity level in practice to better prepare themselves for upcoming matches. I hope they took that from the losses to the Arizona schools. USC and UCLA are very good teams, but we’re a scrappy team and anything can happen in the Pac-10.”