Men’s Tennis Upends Indiana, 4-1

Friday, February 17

Bloomington, IN

5:00 p.m.

University of Memphis

Indiana University

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Feb 17, 2017 | Men's Tennis

Memphis 4, Indiana 1

Tigers pick up a second win over a Big 10 foe

By: Tammy DeGroff

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Junior Andrew Watson had a shot to close the books on a 4-1 Memphis road win at Indiana, Friday, serving at 40-all and up 5-2 in his second set. But in the no-ad world of college tennis, Keivon Tabrizi reached down and fought off that match point, then held serve to pull to 5-4 down. But the Hoosier hope was short-lived as Watson made sure his second chance to seal the win was never in doubt. He held serve at love, giving Memphis a second win over a Big 10 opponent this season with the 4-1 victory at Indiana (5-3).

Memphis, playing its first match in two weeks, came from behind to take the doubles point as the number 31 ranked team of Raheel Manji and Tabrizi took a 6-4 win at one doubles. Memphis answered back with a 6-4 win of its own from Ryan Peniston and Felix Rauch. That put the match at three on board as the deciding match. Again, Tiger freshmen Matt Story and Jan Pallares sealed the doubles advantage grabbing a 7-5 decision to put Memphis up 1-0.

Pallares then stretched the lead to 2-0 with a straight set win at five singles, 6-4, 6-2 Rauch then made is 3-0 Tigers with a 6-4, 6-4 win at six singles.

But before Watson could seal up the win, Indiana got on the board with a 6-4, 6-4 win at three singles. But Watson then grabbed his win at two singles, 7-6 (1), 6-4.

"It was nice to see our team handle a tough road crowd," head coach Paul Goebel said. "We kept our energy up in doubles, which was key for us getting the doubles point. Indiana came out strong in singles and every court was very tight in the first set. We did a good job winning five close first sets and keeping our focus to earn the victory."

The win pushes Memphis to 5-2 on the year and is a second win over a Big 10 opponent. Memphis defeated Michigan State in its season opener, then downed SEC foe LSU.

Memphis will remain on the road while The Racquet Club of Memphis has been taken over by the ATP Memphis Open. Memphis will go on the road next weekend to play at Dartmouth, Friday, and at Harvard, Sunday.

Memphis 4, Indiana 1
Singles
No. 1 – #97 Ryan Peniston (Memphis) vs. Raheel Manji, 7-5, 0-6, 3-0, unfinished
No. 2 – Andrew Watson (Memphis) def. Keivon Tabrizi, 7-6 (1), 6-4
No. 3 – Antonio Cembellin def. Kai Lemke (Memphis), 6-4, 6-4
No. 4 – Chris Patzanovsky (Memphis) vs. Matthew McCoy, 7-5, 2-6, 1-0, unfinished
No. 5 – Jan Pallares (Memphis) def. Oliver Sec, 6-4, 6-2
No. 6 – Felix Rauch (Memphis) def. Zac Brodney, 6-4, 6-4
Doubles
No. 1 -- #31 Raheel Manji/Keivon Tabrizi def. Kai Lemke/Andrew Watson (Memphis), 6-4
No. 2 – Ryan Peniston/Felix Rauch (Memphis) def. Stefan Lugonjic/Antonio Cembellin, 6-4
No. 3 – Matt Story/Jan Pallares (Memphis) def. Zac Brodney/Bennett Crane, 7-5