Men's tennis advances to ITA Kick-Off regional final

Friday, January 25

Winston-Salem, N.C.

1 p.m.

University of Memphis

Old Dominion

Photo by: Matthew Smith

Men's tennis advances to ITA Kick-Off regional final

Jan 25, 2019 | Men's Tennis

Box Score

Memphis turns in 4-1 win for 5-0 start

Box Score

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Memphis men's tennis continued its early-season momentum and advanced to the ITA Kick-Off Weekend regional championship round after a 4-1 win against Old Dominion at the Wake Forest Indoor Tennis Center Friday afternoon.

The Tigers (5-0) began the day by claiming the opening doubles point for the fifth time this season. Memphis then used five first-set wins in singles play to build momentum and clinch the victory. The Tigers will face No. 1 Wake Forest on Saturday at 4 p.m. (CT).

"We knew coming in we were going to have a great match. The National Indoors is a similar format to the NCAA Tournament, so there are no easy matches," head coach Paul Goebel said. "It was another close doubles point. Jan and Patrick did another great job closing out a tiebreaker. It wasn't the best point we've played all year. We did some good things in pressured situations, and that's what you have to do."

ODU's Aziz Kijametovic and Francois Musitelli were first off the court in doubles at the top spot to gain an early advantage, but Memphis' Matt Story and Jeremy Taylor answered with a 6-3 victory at the No. 3 position. With all eyes on court 2, duo Jan Pallares and Patrick Sydow worked their magic once more to secure the opening point in a tiebreak. Pallares has now been a part of clinching the doubles point in each match this season, including three doubles-clinching victories alongside Sydow.

In singles play, first-set momentum proved to be key. Despite falling behind early, the Tigers kept their composure and rallied to take five of the first sets.

"We got down on most of the courts but we didn't panic," Goebel added. "We continued to compete and stay positive. We talked about staying positive before the match, and I thought we did a good job coming back. We fought really hard on those bottom three courts to get that first set, which was key for us."

At the top spot, Chris Patzanovsky used a 6-2 win in the opening frame to take a straight-set decision and increase the Memphis lead. On court 5, David Stevenson earned his first break at 4-4 and then served out the set to establish momentum. The freshman outlasted the Monarchs' Federico Rebecchini, 6-4, 7-5.

Trailing 5-2 in the first set, fellow freshman Oscar Cutting battled back on court 6 to win a pair of break points and cap the first set, 7-5. Cutting earned his first career match-clinching victory after a 6-3 victory in the second set and seal the win for the Tigers.

"It was a good team effort from everyone," Goebel said. "There were a lot of ups and downs in all the matches. Nothing was easy, and we kept our composure. We're happy to get this win."

Singles
1. Chris Patzanovsky (MEM) def. Aziz Kijametovic (ODU), 6-2, 6-3
2. Francois Musitelli (ODU) def. Jeremy Taylor (MEM), 6-2, 6-3
3. Jan Pallares (MEM) vs. Jannik Giesse (ODU), 6-3, 1-6, 3-4, unfinished
4. Matt Story (MEM) vs. Nicola Vidal (ODU), 7-5, 5-3, unfinished
5. David Stevenson (MEM) def. Federico Rebecchini (ODU), 6-4, 7-5
6. Oscar Cutting (MEM) def. Oliver Tobisch (ODU), 7-5, 6-3
(Order of finish: 1, 2, 5, 6)

Doubles
1. Kijametovic/Musitelli (ODU) def. Cutting/Stevenson (MEM), 6-4
2. Pallares/Sydow (MEM) def. Giesse/Tobisch (ODU, 7-6(4)
3. Story/Taylor (MEM) def. Rebecchini/Vidal (ODU), 6-3
(Order of finish: 1, 3, 2)