Men's Tennis Squares Off Against Visiting Badgers Friday

EUGENE, Ore. - The Oregon men's tennis team welcomes Big Ten foe Wisconsin to Eugene this Friday. Besides conference play, this is the first of two power five conference opponents the Ducks will face this season, the other being Iowa.

A second round NCAA tournament team last year, the Badgers finished the 2017 season ranked 28th in the nation.

MATCH #7 - Oregon (4-2) vs. Wisconsin (4-2)
Friday, Feb. 9 | 4 p.m.
Eugene, Ore. | Student Tennis Center
Live Stats: goducks.com
Live Video: goducks.com

INTERVIEWS
Head Coach Nils Schyllander

Freshman Riki Oshima

NOTES
DUCKS UNBLEMISHED AT HOME
Following their 4-0 victory over Pepperdine this Sunday, the Ducks remain unbeaten in home matches, with a 4-0 record. In that four-match span, Oregon has yet to concede a single point to its opponents. UO opened the year with back-to-back 7-0 sweeps over Idaho and Portland State before downing Georgia State 4-0.

IN THE RANKINGS
The Ducks dropped out of the team rankings in the latest ITA national rankings released Wednesday, but added a doubles pair.

The duo of senior Simon Stevens and sophomore Ty Gentry rocketed up to No. 37 after opening the year a perfect 5-0. They join Thomas Laurent and Cormac Clissold, who stay steady at No. 17, in the ITA top 40.

Individually, Laurent dropped six spots in the singles rankings, but remains one of the top singles players in the country, ranked No. 12. He is currently 3-1 at the No. 1 spot so far this season.

DUCKS RIDE THE WAVES TO 4-0 VICTORY
On an unexpected clear day in February, the Ducks took on Pepperdine, playing on UO's outdoor courts for the first time this season. After securing the doubles point, thanks to wins from Armando Soemarno and Charles Roberts along with Simon Stevens and Ty Gentry, the Ducks took care of business in singles play. In a ranked matchup at the No. 1 spot, No. 6 Thomas Laurent downed No. 100 Dennis Uspensky, 6-3, 6-4, after trailing midway through the second set. Senior Simon Stevens defeated Pepperdine's Yusef Khamis, 6-3, 6-3, while freshman Riki Oshima clinched the win for the Ducks at the No. 5 position, downing Max Mendelsohn, 6-4, 6-3.

THE STEVENS-GENTRY CONNECTION
Coming into the season, senior Simon Stevens and sophomore Ty Gentry had only paired six times in 2016-17 for a 3-3 record. The two finished the spring season 1-2, with Stevens playing the majority of his doubles matches with Akihiro Tanaka.

At the start of the 2017 fall season, the smart money was on Stevens and Tanaka to continue their pairing from last year. But with Tanaka opening the year at the ITA All-Americans, and Stevens playing in the Boise State Invitational, Gentry stepped up to pair with the Belgium international. The duo immediately turned heads, advancing to the finals of the tournament before dropping a close match, 8-6, in the finals. The pair reunited at the Gopher Invitational eventually taking home the maroon draw championship in UO's final tournament of the fall.

Six matches into the spring season, the pair is still a force to be reckoned with, leading the team with an undefeated 5-0 doubles record. Overall, Stevens and Gentry are 13-1 this year, having won nine matches in a row. With the majority of the season still to play, the Duck pair could challenge Cormac Clissold and Thomas Laurent's single-season record of 15 consecutive wins. They also need just seven more wins to crack the top 15 on the career doubles wins list.

FRESHMEN MAKING THEIR MARK
Oregon's two new additions this spring, Riki Oshima and Charles Roberts, have made an immediate impact during the opening stretch of the 2018 spring season. Roberts and partner Armando Soemarno single-handedly secured the doubles points for UO in its season opener against Idaho, rallying from three games down to win the match, 7-5. The pair finished the day 2-0 in doubles play following their 6-2 win at the No. 1 spot against Portland State's Tommy Edwards and Avery West. So far this season, the duo is one of UO's team leaders with a 5-1 doubles record.

After dropping two matches while playing against top-ranked squads Stanford and California, Oshima bounced back against Pepperdine clinching the match victory for UO at the No. 5 spot. Currently 3-2 on the year in singles play, Oshima started the year 2-0 dropping only one game throughout his first two career matches. The Japanese international was a force to be reckoned with, sweeping Idaho's Bence Da Re, 6-0, 6-0, in his first-ever match. He followed that stellar performance with a 6-1, 6-0 victory at the No. 4 spot against his Portland State counterpart. Oshima has also partnered with senior Akihiro Tanaka for a 6-1 doubles win at the No. 2 spot against Portland State.

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
The Ducks will have the upper hand in the opening stretch of the spring season with five of their first seven matches played in Eugene. UO finished the 2017 spring season 10-1 at home, and have a combined 51-10 record over the last five years when playing at the Student Tennis Center. With four matches already played, Oregon will have 10 more home matches during the upcoming dual season, the most since 2013 when UO went 12-2 when playing in Eugene. The Ducks are currently 4-0 when playing at home.

LAURENT NAMED PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Thomas Laurent was named the first Pac-12 Player of the Week for the 2018 spring season, the conference announced Tuesday , Jan. 23. Laurent, the No. 6 ranked player in the nation, was dominant in the Ducks outing against Georgia State, defeating Andrei Andrukhou, 6-0, 6-2, at the No. 1 position. The French international dropped only four games throughout his first six sets played. In doubles play, Laurent and partner senior Cormac Clissold recorded their first win of the season against the Panthers. The duo came up big at the No. 2 position against the 56th-ranked pair of Kevin Huynh and Giles Hussey, 6-2. This is Laurent's second career Pac-12 Player of the Week award.

THAT CERTAIN JE NE SAIS QUOI
French international Thomas Laurent entered the 2018 spring season as one of the highest ranked players in program history at sixth in the nation. Laurent is coming off a sophomore campaign in which he broke the single-season wins record with a 30-7 overall record. He continued to build on his Oregon legacy this past fall, reaching the semifinals of the ITA All-Americans and ITA Fall Nationals, both program firsts. Laurent finished the fall slate 8-2 overall in singles play with five wins over ranked opponents, including a 5-7, 6-4, 6-0 win over ninth-ranked William Bushamuka of Kentucky in the opening round of the Fall National Championships.

Midway through his junior season, Laurent is tied for ninth on the UO all-time singles wins list with a 60-16 career record. His astonishing .789 winning percentage is currently the best career winning percentage in program history. The only other Duck with a .700 or better win percentage is Jayson Amos, whose career singles record of 93-34 (.732) ranks first on the UO career singles wins list.

PARTNERS IN CRIME
Senior Cormac Clissold and junior Thomas Laurent look to cement their place as one of Oregon's elite doubles team's this upcoming season. As a pair, Clissold and Laurent are 48-10 all-time in doubles competition, ranking them second on the UO all-time doubles wins list. They need onlynine wins during the upcoming season to tie the doubles pair of Robin Cambier and Jeff Mullen for the top spot. During the fall, the duo went 8-2 overall while winning Oregon's first-ever ITA Northwest Regional doubles title and earning an automatic bid to the Fall National Championships.

UP NEXT
Following Friday's match, The Ducks head to Las Vegas for two matches. UO will open the weekend against San Diego State Saturday, Feb. 17, at 11 a.m., before taking on UNLV the following Sunday.