Laurent Posts Straight-Set Win in ITA First Round

Thursday, October 4

Tulsa, OK

All Day

University of Oregon

ITA All-American Championships

Thomas Laurent, first round of ITA All-American in Tulsa

Photo by: Dan Johnson/ITA

10/04/18 | Men's Tennis

By: Zach Lawson

EUGENE, Ore. – Senior Thomas Laurent opened his fall campaign with a 7-6(5), 7-6(5) win over Florida's Sam Riffice in Thursday's first round of the ITA All-American in Tulsa. With the victory, Laurent advances to the second round where he'll face Henry Patten of UNC Asheville.

The time of Friday's match will be determined after all matches are completed for the day. Laurent, the preseason No. 8 player in the nation, is seeded sixth at the ITA All-American.

"Today's match was a tough test against an extremely high-quality opponent in the first round," head coach Nils Schyllander said. "Thomas played well on the big points late in sets so getting the win is a good start to the fall season and now we can look ahead to the next round."

With the first set in hand, Laurent jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second before Riffice responded with a pair of breaks to lead 4-2. The Florida freshman served for the set at 5-4 but Laurent broke back to even the set which ended up in another tiebreaker. Down 5-2 in the breaker, Laurent rattled off the final five points to win the match and secure his spot in the next round.

Thursday's win marked the 76^th win of Laurent's career which moves him into a tie with Daan Maasland (2012-16) for fourth place on the program's all-time list.

Career Wins at Oregon
1. 93 – Jayson Amos (2013-17)
2. 90 – Robin Cambier (2010-14)
3. 84 – Sven Swinnen (2001-05)
4. 76 – Daan Maasland (2012-16)
76 – Thomas Laurent (2015-pres.)

In addition to play at the ITA All-American, the Ducks will also be in action at the UCSB Classic beginning Friday. Oregon is scheduled to have seven singles entries—three in the A Flight—and three doubles teams in action this weekend in Santa Barbara.