Laurent Advances, Ducks Start Strong at UCSB

Friday, October 5

Tulsa, OK

All Day

University of Oregon

ITA All-American Championships

Photo by: Dan Johnson/ITA

10/05/18 | Men's Tennis

2018 ITA All-American Main Draw

By: Zach Lawson

EUGENE, Ore. – The University of Oregon men's tennis team racked up nine wins Friday between two events headlined by a straight-set win for senior Thomas Laurent at the ITA All-American in Tulsa. The Ducks also collected four 'A' Flight victories at the UCSB Classic in Santa Barbara, Calif.

"It was a good day for us," head coach Nils Schyllander said. "Thomas had a nice win, setting up a tough match tomorrow against (Jan) Zielinski. We might be dodging some rain but Thomas is the first match on tomorrow which could help us out. It was also nice to see the freshman (Charlton and Coste) get wins in the top flight in Santa Barbara."

Laurent advanced to the Round of 16 of the ITA All-American with a 6-0, 6-4 win over Henry Patten of UNC Asheville. The Montpellier, France, native won the first eight games before his opponent got on the scoreboard. In the second set, Laurent broke for a 3-2 lead and went on to serve out the match, securing the win when Patten sent a backhand return into the net.

Friday's win was Laurent's 10^th career triumph at the ITA All-American. In the next round, Laurent will take on Georgia's Jan Zielinski in a top-25 matchup at 7 a.m. (PT). Laurent carries a No. 8 preseason ranking while Zielinski is ranked 22^nd in the country.

In Santa Barbara, the Ducks won eight of 10 matches including victories by Ty Gentry, Joshua Charlton and Emmanuel Coste in 'A' Flight singles play. Gentry returns to the court after posting a 25-6 record last season while newcomers Charlton and Coste picked up the first wins of their Oregon careers. Playing in the 'B' and 'C' draws, respectively, sophomores Riki Oshima and Charles Roberts also had wins.

Oregon began its day at the UCSB Classic with three doubles victories. In the 'A' Flight, Roberts opened his day teaming with Armando Soemarno for an 8-4 win over Angus Bradshaw and Henrique Osorio of Fresno State. The Oregon duo was 12-6 last season including a 7-4 mark at the No. 1 spot in dual play.

Friday Results
ITA All-American (Tulsa, Okla.)
Second Round
#8 Thomas Laurent def. Henry Patten (UNC Asheville) – 6-0, 6-4

UCSB Classic (Santa Barbara, Calif.)
Singles – First Round
A Flight
Joshua Charlton def. Victor Krustev (UCSB) – 7-5, 6-3
Emmanuel Coste def. Jack Barber (Stanford) – 7-6 (10), 6-1
Ty Gentry def. Kento Perera (Stanford) – 6-3, 6-4

B Flight
Riki Oshima def. Gary Vardanyan (Cal Poly) – 6-2, 6-2
Piers Foley (Washington) def. Ethan Young-Smith – 7-6 (6), 6-1

C Flight
Charles Roberts def. Arjith Jayaraman (Davis) – 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (4)
Max Wild (UCLA) def. Evan Felcher – 7-6 (6), 6-2

Doubles – First Round
A Flight
Soemarno/Roberts def. Bradshaw/Osorio (Fresno St.) – 8-4

B Flight
Gentry/Charlton def. Brown/Juan (LMU) – 8-5

C Flight
Oshima/Coste def. Kaiser/Prost (LMU) – 8-3