University of Oregon
No. 42 Stanford
Ducks' Rally Falls Short at Stanford
04/09/16 | Men's Tennis
STANFORD, Calif. – The 36th-ranked Oregon men's tennis team came back from a 2-0 deficit against No. 42 Stanford but was unable to complete the comeback, falling 4-2 Friday afternoon at the Taube Family Tennis Center.
HOW IT HAPPENED: Due to predicted inclement weather, the match between the Ducks (16-5, 2-3) and the Cardinal (11-8, 3-2) was moved up 90 minutes and play started with singles instead of the typical doubles.
Stanford was able to jump out to a 2-0 lead early behind straight set wins at Nos. 5 and 6. Maciek Romanowicz was able to halt Ethan Young-Smith's three-match winning streak as he won 6-3, 6-1 in the sixth spot. Sameer Kumar then put away Cormac Clissold at No. 5 as he won 6-2, 6-3.
The Ducks would rally and it started with Thomas Laurent picking up a win at No. 3 over Michael Genender. Laurent was dominant in the first set, winning 6-1. The second set was closer, but Laurent closed it out to win 6-4 and get Oregon on the board.
The final three matches at Nos. 1, 2 and 4 all featured UO dropping the first set and then coming back in the second to force a deciding set. Jayson Amos was able to upset No. 113 Nolan Paige. After falling in a tiebreak in the first, the junior took the next two sets 6-4 and locked up his 23rd win of the season. It is now the third straight year that Amos has recorded at least 23 singles victories in a season.
At No. 1, Daan Maasland dropped the opening set 6-4 to No. 8 Tom Fawcett. The Duck, ranked No. 120, came back and won 6-3 in the second. The third set went back and forth until Fawcett was able to break Maasland's serve to go up 6-5. He then held serve to win it 7-5 and put Stanford on top, 3-2.
The final match came down to No. 2 where Simon Stevens was locked in a battle with No. 69 David Wilczynski. After the Cardinal took the first set on a tiebreak, Stevens repaid the favor and won the second set in a tiebreak. Wilczynski then established some early momentum in the third, going up 4-1 before Stevens rallied to make it 5-3. The comeback effort could not be completed as Wilczynski won it 6-3 and clinched the victory for Stanford. Due to the match being clinched, doubles were not played.
UP NEXT: The Ducks will look to end their northern California road trip with a winning record as they play at No. 19 California tomorrow at 1 p.m.
