Men's Tennis Gets Conference Road Win at SMU, 4-2

Thursday, February 25

Dallas, TX

2:00 p.m.

University of Memphis

#60 SMU

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Feb 25, 2016 | Men's Tennis

Patzanovsky clinches second straight victory.

By: Tammy DeGroff

DALLAS – Shortly after Memphis upset No. 19 ranked Ole Miss on Sunday, head coach Paul Goebel was already talking about the team's next opponent, #60 ranked SMU. The two teams have faced off in back-to-back years in the American Athletic Conference tournament, taking turns eliminating one another from the draw.

The match-up Thursday started off in an expected tangle. The Mustangs jumped out to an early start with a 6-4 win at number two doubles. The Tigers answered with a 6-3 win at number one and the fate of the doubles point came down to match at three, where Memphis was up 5-4. The Tiger team of Andrew Watson and Shakeel Manji gave Memphis a 1-0 lead with the 6-4 win at three.

SMU answered back with a straight set win at three singles for 1-1, but freshman Felix Rauch had an answer with a straight set win of his own at number five, 6-4, 6-4 for a 2-1 Tiger lead.

The Mustangs tied it up against with a 7-5, 6-4 win at number six, for 2-all, but Ryan Peniston added a 6-4, 6-3 win at number one for a 3-2 Tiger lead. The Peniston win kept him unbeaten in dual season singles play.

It then came down to courts two and four. At two, it looked like Watson could be in trouble, having dropped his first set, 6-4. He was down 5-4 and battled back for an eventual 7-5 second set win, forcing a third and fighting off a Mustang point to tie the match back up.

While Watson got underway in his third set, freshman Chris Patzanovsky bounced back in a big way from a 7-5 opening set loss for a 6-1 second set win. In the third set, the German battled with Ronald Slobodchikov, prevailing 7-5 in the third to seal the Tiger victory.

Memphis remains in Texas and Saturday, plays at nationally-ranked Baylor. That match will start at 5 p.m.

#17 Memphis 4, #60 SMU 2
Doubles
No. 1 – Louis Asser/Kai Lemke (Memphis) def. #53 Hunter Johnson/Yates Johnson, 6-3
No. 2 – #18 Nate Lammns/Arkadijs Slobodkins def. Ryan Peniston/Felix Rauch (Memphis), 6-4
No. 3 – Shakeel Manji/Andrew Watson (Memphis) def. Markus Kerner/Ronald Slobodchikov, 6-4
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3
Singles
No. 1 – #57 Ryan Peniston (Memphis) def. #51 Hunter Johnson, 6-4, 6-3
No. 2 -- Andrew Watson (Memphis) vs. Samm Butler, 4-6, 7-5, 3-2, uf
No. 3 – #84 Nate Lammons def. Kai Lemke (Memphis), 6-4, 6-2
No. 4 – Chris Patzanovsky (Memphis) def. Ronald Slobodchikov, 5-7, 6-1, 7-5
No. 5 – Felix Rauch (Memphis) def. Markus Kerner, 6-4, 6-4
No. 6 – Yates Johnson def. Shakeel Manji (Memphis), 7-5, 6-4
Order of Finish: 3, 5, 6, 1, 4