Ducks Take Win Streak On The Road For Two Matches In Iowa

EUGENE, Ore. - The Oregon men's tennis team heads to Iowa this weekend for its last two matches before opening Pac-12 play. The Ducks open their two-match road trip against Cornell Saturday at 10 a.m. PT, before taking on the host Hawkeyes Sunday at 9 a.m. PT. UO's match against Iowa marks the second top 50 matchup in three games for the Ducks.

MATCH 12: No. 40 OREGON (9-2) vs. CORNELL (3-5)
Saturday, Mar. 3 | 10 a.m. PT
Iowa City, Iowa | Hawkeye Tennis and Rec. Center
Live Stats: HawkeyeSports.com (If played indoors)
Live Video: HawkeyeSports.com

MATCH 13: No. 40 OREGON (9-2) vs. No. 42 IOWA (6-5)
Sunday, Mar. 4 | 9 a.m. PT
Iowa City, Iowa | Hawkeye Tennis and Rec. Center
Live Stats: HawkeyeSports.com (If played indoors)
Live Video: HawkeyeSports.com

LAST TIME OUT
UO was able to add a last minute match against a tough Utah State team this past Wednesday. Both teams looked to be evenly matched heading into the top 50 showdown, with the Aggies ranked just behind the Ducks at No. 43. Looks can be deceiving though, as UO raced by Utah State for a 4-0 victory. Thomas Laurent had a tremendous match, teaming with Cormac Clissold for a 6-0 sweep in doubles play before downing USU's Jaime Barajas 6-1, 6-1 at the No. 1 spot. In only his third appearance this spring, junior Ethan Young-Smith clinched the win for UO with a 6-3, 6-2 win from the No. 6 position.

IN THE RANKINGS
The Ducks made their first appearance on the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's team rankings this week. With the rankings expanded to the top 50, Oregon came in at No. 40, just ahead of this Saturday's opponent Iowa, which is ranked No. 42.

Thomas Laurent and Cormac Clissold jumped up one spot in the latest ITA rankings. The duo is ranked 16th in the country with an 13-4 record this season, 5-2 in dual play. Laurent and Clissold sit just five wins behind Robin Cambier's and Jeff Mullen's all-time career doubles wins record, with a record of 52-11. Their .825 winning percentage is currently the second highest career doubles winning percentage in UO history.

Individually, Laurent remained one of the top 20 players in the country, dropping one spot to No. 13. He is currently 6-1 this spring season, 14-3 overall, playing every match at the No. 1 spot.

GRAB YOUR BROOMS
So far this season, the Ducks have recorded seven victories without conceding a single point, including the past three. UO's single-match dominance has slowly risen since the 2010 season. In 2010, Oregon recorded three match sweeps with that number continually rising each season since, culminating in 10 perfect wins last year. With half the season still to play, UO has the opportunity to surpass that mark and raise the bar even higher.

THE STREAK
Senior Cormac Clissold and sophomore Ty Gentry kept their double-digit singles winning streaks alive following UO's match against Utah State. Both Ducks led their Aggie counterparts, with Clissold in a third set, as UO clinched the win forcing their matches to be abandoned. So far this spring, the two Ducks are undefeated in dual play with Clissold standing at 7-0 while Gentry is right behind with a 6-0 singles record. Dating back to the fall, Clissold and Gentry have won 11 and 10 matches in a row, respectively. The single-season consecutive singles match winning streak record is 18 set by Thomas Laurent last season. Overall, Gentry is UO's team-leader with a 15-2 record while Clissold is close behind at 13-2.

PARTNERS IN CRIME
Senior Cormac Clissold and junior Thomas Laurent continue to climb the UO career doubles wins list. As a pair, Clissold and Laurent are 53-11 all-time, ranking them second on the UO all-time doubles wins list. They need only four more wins this season to tie the doubles pair of Robin Cambier and Jeff Mullen for the top spot. So far this year, the two Ducks are 14-4 overall, 6-2 during the spring season, winning Oregon's first-ever ITA Northwest Regional doubles title and earning an automatic bid to the Fall National Championships.

STEVENS, CLISSOLD CONTINUE TO CLIMB
In their final seasons at Oregon, seniors Simon Stevens and Cormac Clissold have clawed their way up the UO record books. Tied for 15th at the start of the 2017-18 season, Stevens has lept into a tie for sixth thanks to a 14-5 record this season. Currently, Stevens has a 69-32 career singles record, placing him in a tie with Oded Teig. The Belgium international needs just six more wins to crack the top five on UO's all-time career singles wins list.

Clissold, who started the year just outside UO's top 15, has climbed all the way up to 11th. The Australian international has a 59-26 career record at UO. With his two wins this past weekend, Cormac lept his brother Aaron Clissold, as well as Alex Cornelissen, for 11th.

Both Clissold and Stevens are already among Oregon's top five most successful doubles players as well, ranking third and fifth, respectively. Individually, they are right behind one another with Clissold accumulating 73 doubles wins during his career and Stevens logging 70 wins.

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
The Ducks recorded their third straight sweep this past Wednesday to remain undefeated at the Student Tennis Center with an 8-0 home record. Wisconsin is the only team to record any wins in Eugene, recording two singles victories to mark the only points UO has given up at home all season. Oregon did not concede a single point in its first four home matches, opening the year with back-to-back 7-0 sweeps over Idaho and Portland State. Since their season opening doubleheader, the Ducks have had five 4-0 sweeps in their last six home matches. With 15 of 25 matches played at home this season, UO hopes to make the Student Tennis Center one of the toughest places to play. Last season, the Ducks finished the year 10-1 at home, and have a combined 51-10 record over the last five years when playing at the STC.

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 eighth on the UO all-time singles wins list with a 64-16 career record. His astonishing .800 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 all-time list.

FRESHMEN MAKING THEIR MARK
Oregon's two new additions this spring, Riki Oshima and Charles Roberts, have made an immediate impact for the Ducks this 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. So far this season, the pair is 6-2 overall, while sporting a 4-1 record at the No. 1 doubles position.

Currently 5-3 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. Currently, Oshima is on a two-match winning streak grinding out a 7-6(3), 1-6, 1-0(9) victory over SDSU's R. Gonzalez Almazan to get back above .500 on the year, before picking up a victory at the No. 6 spot against Gonzaga. Oshima has also partnered with senior Akihiro Tanaka twice this season, recording a tiebreaker win, 7-6(1), against their Northern Arizona counterparts in their last outing to improve to 2-0 on the year.

UP NEXT
The Ducks open conference play following this weekend's matches, hosting UCLA Friday, Mar. 9, followed by USC Saturday.