University of Memphis Athletics
Friday, February 17
Bloomington, IN
5:00 p.m.
University of Memphis
at
Indiana University
Photo by: Zoe Davis
Men’s Tennis On the Road at Indiana Friday
Feb 16, 2017 | Men's Tennis
Tigers opening three-match swing at regional foe Friday.
MEMPHIS – The University of Memphis men's tennis team (4-2) will open a three-match road swing at Big 10 foe Indiana, Friday, at 5 p.m. (CT). The match will be the first for Memphis in nearly 2 full weeks as the Tigers' home facility has been taken over by the ATP for the Memphis Open tournament. Live scoring for the Friday night match can be found at http://athletics.indiana.edu/livestats/TN/reload.html.
About the Tigers (4-2):
Memphis will be looking to knock off some competitive rust on Friday night. Only junior Andrew Watson has played a competitive match since the doubleheader sweep against UAPB back on Feb. 3rd. Watson was granted a wild card singles entry to the ATP 250 Memphis Open qualifying draw, facing Darian King. Watson fell 6-3, 6-2 to King, but should have some confidence from that match as King advanced to the main draw of the ATP event and promptly took out number five seeded Bernard Tomic, 6-4, 6-4 and is playing Thursday with the chance to make the quarterfinals of the 250 level event.
Watson leads Memphis with a 4-0 mark in dual season play, including a 3-0 start at two singles. Teammate Ryan Peniston is the lone Tiger remaining in the national singles rankings, falling to No. 97 in the country with a 2-2 overall mark, while Kai Lemke improved to 3-2 at three singles. Sophomore Chris Patzanovsky is 3-0 at four singles and is 5-0 in dual season matches.
Memphis should have plenty of confidence to lean on in a difficult road match. After playing Northwestern and Stanford in the ITA Kick-off Weekend (both teams in the top 20in the country), Memphis has faced hostile home courts before. Against Stanford, Memphis took the doubles point and pushed then #18 Stanford to the edge, falling 4-3.
About Indiana (5-2):
Indiana jumped out to a 5-0 start to the season before suffering back-to-back losses to top 20 ranked teams. The Hoosiers fell 5-2 at #17 Illinois, then lost 4-0 to a visiting Kentucky team that was ranked #15 in the country.
On the doubles side, the team of Keivon Tabrizi and Raheel Manji broke in to the national rankings in the last update, coming in at number 31 after wins over opponents from both Illinois and Kentucky to move to 4-0 on the dual season. The Hoosiers are also strong at two doubles, with the team of Antonio Cembellin and Stefan Lugonjic off to a 4-2 start. At three doubles, the team of Zac Brodney and Bennett Crane got off to a 4-0 start before suffering their first loss of the dual season at Illinois. The duo bounced back with a win over the team from Kentucky and is now 5-1 on the year heading in to the Friday night match-up with the Tigers.
Atop the singles lineup for the Hoosiers is junior Raheel Manji. Manji is 2-2 in dual season play and is not totally unfamiliar with the Tigers, having faced the team of Ryan Peniston and Felix Rauch in doubles with teammate Antonio Cembellin at the ITA All-American qualifier. The Memphis duo prevailed 8-6 in that meeting, but no Tiger has face Manji on the singles court yet this year.
At two singles, Keivon Tabrizi was off to a 3-0 start before suffering back-to-back losses to top 25 ranked opponents, while Cembellin is 3-1 at three singles. Cembellin and Tiger Andrew Watson have already crossed paths once this year, with Watson prevailing 6-3, 6-2 in the opening round of the ITA Ohio Valley Regional.
Series History: Third Meeting
This is the third-ever meeting between Memphis and Indiana, all of which have been played in Bloomington. The Hoosiers lead the overall series 2-0 with the last meeting coming in 2003. IU was ranked number 45 in the country in that last meeting, a 5-2 decision. Neither team is ranked in the latest ITA team rankings (which now only include the top 25 until the February 21st rankings when computer rankings take over).
About the Tigers (4-2):
Memphis will be looking to knock off some competitive rust on Friday night. Only junior Andrew Watson has played a competitive match since the doubleheader sweep against UAPB back on Feb. 3rd. Watson was granted a wild card singles entry to the ATP 250 Memphis Open qualifying draw, facing Darian King. Watson fell 6-3, 6-2 to King, but should have some confidence from that match as King advanced to the main draw of the ATP event and promptly took out number five seeded Bernard Tomic, 6-4, 6-4 and is playing Thursday with the chance to make the quarterfinals of the 250 level event.
Watson leads Memphis with a 4-0 mark in dual season play, including a 3-0 start at two singles. Teammate Ryan Peniston is the lone Tiger remaining in the national singles rankings, falling to No. 97 in the country with a 2-2 overall mark, while Kai Lemke improved to 3-2 at three singles. Sophomore Chris Patzanovsky is 3-0 at four singles and is 5-0 in dual season matches.
Memphis should have plenty of confidence to lean on in a difficult road match. After playing Northwestern and Stanford in the ITA Kick-off Weekend (both teams in the top 20in the country), Memphis has faced hostile home courts before. Against Stanford, Memphis took the doubles point and pushed then #18 Stanford to the edge, falling 4-3.
About Indiana (5-2):
Indiana jumped out to a 5-0 start to the season before suffering back-to-back losses to top 20 ranked teams. The Hoosiers fell 5-2 at #17 Illinois, then lost 4-0 to a visiting Kentucky team that was ranked #15 in the country.
On the doubles side, the team of Keivon Tabrizi and Raheel Manji broke in to the national rankings in the last update, coming in at number 31 after wins over opponents from both Illinois and Kentucky to move to 4-0 on the dual season. The Hoosiers are also strong at two doubles, with the team of Antonio Cembellin and Stefan Lugonjic off to a 4-2 start. At three doubles, the team of Zac Brodney and Bennett Crane got off to a 4-0 start before suffering their first loss of the dual season at Illinois. The duo bounced back with a win over the team from Kentucky and is now 5-1 on the year heading in to the Friday night match-up with the Tigers.
Atop the singles lineup for the Hoosiers is junior Raheel Manji. Manji is 2-2 in dual season play and is not totally unfamiliar with the Tigers, having faced the team of Ryan Peniston and Felix Rauch in doubles with teammate Antonio Cembellin at the ITA All-American qualifier. The Memphis duo prevailed 8-6 in that meeting, but no Tiger has face Manji on the singles court yet this year.
At two singles, Keivon Tabrizi was off to a 3-0 start before suffering back-to-back losses to top 25 ranked opponents, while Cembellin is 3-1 at three singles. Cembellin and Tiger Andrew Watson have already crossed paths once this year, with Watson prevailing 6-3, 6-2 in the opening round of the ITA Ohio Valley Regional.
Series History: Third Meeting
This is the third-ever meeting between Memphis and Indiana, all of which have been played in Bloomington. The Hoosiers lead the overall series 2-0 with the last meeting coming in 2003. IU was ranked number 45 in the country in that last meeting, a 5-2 decision. Neither team is ranked in the latest ITA team rankings (which now only include the top 25 until the February 21st rankings when computer rankings take over).
Players Mentioned
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