Friday, April 13
Eugene, Ore.
1:30 p.m.
University of Oregon
5
vs
2
Arizona
Photo by: Eric Evans/GoDucks.com
Ducks Rally to Victory over Wildcats, 5-2
04/13/07 | Men's Tennis
EUGENE -- Marcos Verdasco got the biggest win of his young career and the Ducks rallied to defeat Arizona, 5-2, Friday afternoon at the Outdoor Tennis Courts.
The Ducks trailed early in the match after dropping the doubles point, with only Verdasco and Francisco Gallardo winning their doubles tilt, and all the Ducks save senior Eric Pickard lost their first set.
At the top position for the Ducks, Verdasco came back after losing his first set, 6-2, to No. 83 ranked Claudio Christen to defeat the lanky junior, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.
"It was a gritty match today," director of tennis Nils Schyllander said. "It was huge for us to rally in the way that we did in singles and Marcos [Verdasco's] win was huge in that effort. That is a huge win for him."
Down 2-0 in the team points, the senior Pickard took his match in straight sets 6-2, 7-6(5) against Alex Labrosse. When Pickard walked off the court it seemed as if he might be the only Duck on the afternoon to get a victory as no other Duck even won four games in their first set losses.
They would win every single one of the remaining matches, however.
Mike Myrhed tied the match with his 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 besting of Peter Zimmer and Verdasco would follow and put the Ducks ahead with his victory. The Ducks led 3-2, but it seemed a precarious lead as Geoff Embry trailed by two breaks in his match and Alexander Cornelissen was in a dogfight at the No. 2 position.
The two matches would come down to tiebreakers and as a sense of Deja Vu' for the Ducks as they could have beaten Stanford last Thursday had they picked up two victories in the last two matches which both headed to tiebreaks.
This time would be different as Cornelissen took the pressure off Embry by winning his tiebreak and clinching the match for the Ducks with his 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) win over Bruno Alcala in the No. 2 position. The win was the freshman's third victory in a row after his phenomenal weekend against Stanford and California last week.
After battling back from down 4-1 to force the tiebreak, Embry would complete his comeback with the tiebreak win to defeat Ravid Hezi 2-6, 7-5, 7-6(3).
"To have two freshman battle the way that Cornelissen and Embry did today is a tremendous sign for this program," Schyllander said. "They showed a lot of poise and guts in playing their matches the way they did with all of the pressure."
The win marks the first Pac-10 victory for the Ducks, who move to 10-11 on the year, while the Wildcats drop to 5-15.
The Ducks will look to ride the momentum into their next Pac-10 dual on Saturday against the Arizona State Sun Devils.
Oregon 5, Arizona 2
Doubles:
No. 1: Claudio Christen/Jason Labrosse (Arizona) def. Geoff Embry/Alexander Cornelissen (Oregon), 8-6
No. 2: Marcos Verdasco/Francisco Gallardo (Oregon) def. Bruno Alcala/Ravid Hezi (Arizona), 8-6
No. 3: Peter Zimmer/Francois VanderMewe (Arizona) def. Ric Mortera/Stephen Wiechert (Oregon), 8-3
Singles:
No. 1: Verdasco (Oregon) def. Christen (Arizona), 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
No. 2: Cornelissen (Oregon) def. Alcala (Arizona), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5)
No. 3: J. Labrosse (Arizona) def. Ric Mortera, 6-1, 6-4
No. 4: Embry (Oregon) def. Hezi (Arizona), 2-6, 7-5, 7-6(3)
No. 5: Mike Myrhed (Oregon) def. Zimmer (Arizona), 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
No. 6: Eric Pickard (Oregon) def. Alex Labrosse (Arizona), 6-2, 7-6(5)
The Ducks trailed early in the match after dropping the doubles point, with only Verdasco and Francisco Gallardo winning their doubles tilt, and all the Ducks save senior Eric Pickard lost their first set.
At the top position for the Ducks, Verdasco came back after losing his first set, 6-2, to No. 83 ranked Claudio Christen to defeat the lanky junior, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.
"It was a gritty match today," director of tennis Nils Schyllander said. "It was huge for us to rally in the way that we did in singles and Marcos [Verdasco's] win was huge in that effort. That is a huge win for him."
Down 2-0 in the team points, the senior Pickard took his match in straight sets 6-2, 7-6(5) against Alex Labrosse. When Pickard walked off the court it seemed as if he might be the only Duck on the afternoon to get a victory as no other Duck even won four games in their first set losses.
They would win every single one of the remaining matches, however.
Mike Myrhed tied the match with his 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 besting of Peter Zimmer and Verdasco would follow and put the Ducks ahead with his victory. The Ducks led 3-2, but it seemed a precarious lead as Geoff Embry trailed by two breaks in his match and Alexander Cornelissen was in a dogfight at the No. 2 position.
The two matches would come down to tiebreakers and as a sense of Deja Vu' for the Ducks as they could have beaten Stanford last Thursday had they picked up two victories in the last two matches which both headed to tiebreaks.
This time would be different as Cornelissen took the pressure off Embry by winning his tiebreak and clinching the match for the Ducks with his 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) win over Bruno Alcala in the No. 2 position. The win was the freshman's third victory in a row after his phenomenal weekend against Stanford and California last week.
After battling back from down 4-1 to force the tiebreak, Embry would complete his comeback with the tiebreak win to defeat Ravid Hezi 2-6, 7-5, 7-6(3).
"To have two freshman battle the way that Cornelissen and Embry did today is a tremendous sign for this program," Schyllander said. "They showed a lot of poise and guts in playing their matches the way they did with all of the pressure."
The win marks the first Pac-10 victory for the Ducks, who move to 10-11 on the year, while the Wildcats drop to 5-15.
The Ducks will look to ride the momentum into their next Pac-10 dual on Saturday against the Arizona State Sun Devils.
Oregon 5, Arizona 2
Doubles:
No. 1: Claudio Christen/Jason Labrosse (Arizona) def. Geoff Embry/Alexander Cornelissen (Oregon), 8-6
No. 2: Marcos Verdasco/Francisco Gallardo (Oregon) def. Bruno Alcala/Ravid Hezi (Arizona), 8-6
No. 3: Peter Zimmer/Francois VanderMewe (Arizona) def. Ric Mortera/Stephen Wiechert (Oregon), 8-3
Singles:
No. 1: Verdasco (Oregon) def. Christen (Arizona), 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
No. 2: Cornelissen (Oregon) def. Alcala (Arizona), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5)
No. 3: J. Labrosse (Arizona) def. Ric Mortera, 6-1, 6-4
No. 4: Embry (Oregon) def. Hezi (Arizona), 2-6, 7-5, 7-6(3)
No. 5: Mike Myrhed (Oregon) def. Zimmer (Arizona), 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
No. 6: Eric Pickard (Oregon) def. Alex Labrosse (Arizona), 6-2, 7-6(5)
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
2024 Oregon Men's Tennis | Washington Match Recap
Wednesday, April 17
Nils Schyllander: "It's like Christmas Day."
Wednesday, February 15
Brandon Lam: "I think we're right there."
Tuesday, February 25
Joshua Charlton: "We reset this week and have two huge opportunities."
Tuesday, February 25
