The future of Oregon women’s and men’s tennis appears full of optimism after two of the younger Ducks — freshman Dominika Dieskova and sophomore Thomas Bieri — performed well over the weekend in their first showings of the season.
With disappointing seasons last year for both the men’s and women’s tennis teams, it was important to get off to a good start and have a positive outlook for the upcoming year.
Dieskova defeated Laura Nigro of Air Force, 6-4 and 6-3, in her first-round matchup at the Riviera/ITA Women’s All-American Championships in Los Angeles on Saturday. In the second round of the qualifiers, the Duck freshman almost pulled out another win after defeating Maria Brito of Clemson on the first set.
However, Dieskova lost the last two sets to Brito to finish the match 5-7, 6-3 and 6-4. It was an impressive first showing for Dieskova, who showed she will have an impact on the future of Oregon tennis. She also is the one to reckon with currently.
“It’s great for Dominika to get her feet wet against top competition,” women’s tennis second-year head coach Nils Schyllander said in a press release. “She proved right away that she’s going to be a great collegiate player. She’s just going to get better and better.”
All-American senior Courtney Nagle will compete on Tuesday in the prequalifying round and the reigning Pac-10 Women’s Player of the Year Daria Panova will begin play on Thursday in the singles main draw.
According to preseason singles rankings issued by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, Panova is currently ranked No. 7 in the nation and Nagle is ranked 35th.
The women’s team will participate in the Jack Taylor Classic in Boise, Idaho, on Friday.
On the men’s side, Bieri won his first and second round matchups before falling in the third round on Saturday at the Icy Hot/ITA All American pre-qualifiers tournament in Chattanooga, Tenn. The Switzerland native easily defeated his first-round opponent, Arkansas’ Talley Parker, 6-3 and 6-1. In the second round, Bieri had no trouble in taking down his opponent, Illinois State’s Guillermo Gomez, 6-2 and 6-1.
Bieri sustained a shoulder injury during his third round matchup; however, which subsequently affected his play and ended his run in the tournament. Lousiana-Lafayette’s freshman Evgehni Corduneau beat Bieri in straight sets, 6-4 and 6-0.
“It was a pretty close first set,” Oregon assistant coach Ross Duncan said. “Unfortunately (the injury) seemed to affect his performance in the second set. Overall (Corduneau) was a good player.”
Bieri will pair up with junior Manuel Kost on the doubles side in the main draw on Thursday in Chattanooga. Kost enters his third season for the Ducks and is ranked No. 31 in the nation — the highest ranking of his college career. The men’s team will participate at the Bulldog Classic in Fresno, Calif., starting on Oct. 10.