The 2017 season is just getting started, but the Oregon men’s tennis team is wasting no time in performing at a high level.
On Saturday afternoon at the Student Tennis Center, the Ducks took care of business, defeating Cal Poly, 4-0. In the first of four consecutive matches to be played at their home court, the Ducks (4-1) handled Cal Poly (2-2) from start to finish.
“Today we definitely did the little things right, didn’t make too many mistakes, and did what we needed to do,” Oregon head coach Nils Schyllander said in a release.
The Ducks got the early 1-0 lead, taking the doubles point. Thomas Laurent and Cormac Clissold, playing for the first time in the No. 2 spot, got things rolling with a 7-5 win over the Mustangs’ Garrett Auproux and Tim Tan. Laurent and Clissold’s win improves their record to 24-3 and tied them for 10th in Oregon history for career doubles wins.
Jayson Amos and Armando Soemarno clinched the doubles point, taking down Ben Donovan and Corey Pang, 6-3.
Oregon didn’t look back in singles, winning all sets en route to a clean 4-0 sweep. Oregon’s Ethan Young-Smith, after not playing in doubles, kept the momentum with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Axel Damiens. Akihiro Tanaka defeated Cal Poly’s Josh Ortlip, 6-4, 6-2 to give Oregon a 3-0 lead in the match. Coming from Asia University in Japan, Tanaka is now 5-3 in his first season with the Ducks.
Thomas Laurent, the No. 33-ranked singles player in the nation, secured the victory for Oregon with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Pang. The sophomore improved to 4-0 on the season in dual action. Laurent doesn’t seem to be afraid of being relied on, either. He is now 8-0 in his career at No. 1 singles.
Up next for the Ducks is a Thursday match against Fresno State at 5 p.m. at the Student Tennis Center.
Oregon vs Cal Poly
Doubles:
- (UO) Armando Soemarno/Jayson Amos def. (CP) Ben Donovan/Corey Pang, 6-3
- (UO) Thomas Laurent/Cormac Clissold def. (CP) Garrett Auproux/Tim Tan, 6-3
- (UO) Simon Stevens/Akihiro Tanaka vs (CP) Karl Enander/Antoine Noel, unfinished
Oregon wins doubles point
Singles:
- (UO) Laurent def. (CP) Pang, 6-4, 6-3
- (UO) Stevens vs (CP) Donovan, unfinished
- (UO) Amos vs (CP) Auproux, unfinished
- (UO) Tanaka def. (CP) Ortlip, 6-4, 6-2
- (UO) Clissold vs (CP) Noel, unfinished
- (UO) Young-Smith def. (CP) Damiens, 6-1, 6-2
Oregon wins, 4-0
Follow Cole Kundich on Twitter @ckundich
