University of Oregon
California
Ducks Drop Thriller to No. 12 Cal
04/14/17 | Men's Tennis
OREGON REBOUNDED FROM DROPPING THE SINGLES POINT TO PULL EVEN, 3-3, BEFORE FALLING IN A THRILLING FINAL MATCH AT THE NO. 1 SINGLES SPOT
EUGENE, Ore. - The 23rd-ranked Oregon men's tennis team rebounded from dropping the doubles point to take No. 12 California down to the wire before falling in a thrilling back-and-forth match, 4-3, on Friday afternoon at the Student Tennis Center.
How it Happened: With the match tied, 3-3, all eyes at a crowded STC turned to the No. 1 singles court where Oregon sophomore Thomas Laurent, ranked 26th in the country in singles, faced off with California's Florian Lakat, ranked 15th in the country.
Lakat came out hot, winning the first three games en route to a 6-4 first-set victory. Laurent responded with tremendous fight in the second set to win, 7-5. Laurent and Lakat went back and forth in the final set, with Laurent taking leads of 3-2 and 4-3. Lakat wouldn't go away, and wore down Laurent over the next three games to win, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, and clinch the match for the Golden Bears (16-6, 3-1 Pac-12).
The Ducks (16-5, 2-3 Pac-12) fought back after a tough loss in doubles. The two teams split on the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles courts before the fourth-ranked pair of Lakat and Filip Bergevi snuck past the Ducks' Jayson Amos and Ty Gentry, 7-5, to clinch the point.
Oregon quickly began putting points up on the board in singles. Gentry, a freshman, put on an impressive display at the No. 6 spot with a 6-2, 6-0 sweep of Bjorn Hoffman (Cal) to get the Ducks on the board and even the match, 1-1. Junior Akihiro Tanaka gave Oregon a 2-1 lead with a 6-2, 6-1 win over No. 88 Billy Griffith at No. 3 before Cormac Clissold extended that lead to 3-1 with a 6-4, 6-2 victory against J.T. Nishimura at the No. 5 spot.
Cal battled back from there to pull even, 3-3, and send the drama to Laurent and Lakat at the top court. Cal's Bergevi defeated Amos, 6-4, 6-2, at No. 4, and 45th-ranked Andre Goransson (Cal) beat junior Simon Stevens, 7-5, 6-3, at No. 2.
What it Means: The Ducks fall to 16-5 and 2-3 in Pac-12 play, but took another top-15 team down to the wire. Four of Oregon's five losses have now come against teams ranked in the top 15, and all five have come against ranked opponents.
Notable: Laurent remains tied for the most singles wins in UO single-season history with 27, and suffers just his second dual match loss of the spring (17-2) … Laurent and Clissold defeated the Cal pair of Goransson/Griffith at No. 2 doubles, 6-3, to improve to 35-6 all-time together and move into a tie for third in UO history … Tanaka improved to 14-3 in dual matches this season … Gentry moved to 6-3 in dual matches.
Up Next: The Ducks will have another chance to earn a top-15 win on Sunday against No. 15 Stanford at noon at the Student Tennis Center.
Players Mentioned
