Ducks Face Biggest Test Yet In Pac-12 Opener

EUGENE, Ore. - The Oregon men's tennis team opens Pac-12 play this weekend against two top 15 teams in No. 4 UCLA (Friday) followed by No. 13 USC (Saturday). This marks the fifth year in a row the Ducks will open conference play against the two California schools, with both opponents ranked in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's top 15.

MATCH 14: No. 40 OREGON (9-4) vs. No. 4 UCLA (13-2)
Friday, Mar. 9 | 5 p.m.
Eugene, Ore. | Student Tennis Center
Live Stats: GoDucks.com
Live Video: GoDucks.com

MATCH 15: No. 40 OREGON (9-4) vs. No. 13 USC (8-3)
Saturday, Mar. 10 | 1 p.m.
Eugene, Ore. | Student Tennis Center
Live Stats: GoDucks.com
Live Video: GoDucks.com

WEEKLY NOTES
LAST TIME OUT
The Ducks found themselves in two close battles last weekend in Iowa, falling to Cornell and No. 42 Iowa by duplicate 4-2 scores. Both matches were very tight contests, starting right out of the gates in doubles play against Cornell. With both teams recording one win each, it came down to Armando Soemarno and Charles Roberts who trailed 5-4. The duo managed to fend off match point and win the next three games to clinch the point for UO. In singles play, the Big Red got the upper hand taking a 3-2 lead with Ty Gentry leading and Ethan Young-Smith heading into a third set at the No. 5 and No. 6 positions, respectively. Young-Smith would eventually fall in the third set giving Cornell the win and forcing Gentry's match to be abandoned.

It was the same story different chapter against the host Hawkeyes with both teams recording one doubles win each to open the match. The point came down to a tiebreaker set at the No. 3 spot. After a long back-and forth stretch, Iowa slipped by Gentry and Simon Stevens to win the point. Iowa jumped out to a 3-0 lead in singles play, but the Ducks would not go quietly cutting into the Hawkeyes lead, 3-2. With Akihiro Tanaka heading into a third set, freshman Riki Oshima attempted to send his match into a third as well to keep UO's hopes alive. Tied 5-5 with Iowa's Will Davies, Oshima could not extend the match, falling 6-3, 7-5 at the No. 6 spot.

IN THE RANKINGS
The Ducks remained in the top 50 in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association's team rankings. Despite its two losses, Oregon held steady at No. 40.

Individually, Thomas Laurent kept his hold on the No. 13 spot. He is currently 9-1 this spring season, having won the last seven straight, and 17-3 overall. Laurent has played every match this season at the No. 1 spot.

Laurent and Cormac Clissold dropped to 21st in the country after snapping their six-match winning streak this past weekend against Iowa.As a pair, the two are 7-3 this spring and 15-5 overall. Laurent and Clissold sit just three wins behind Robin Cambier's and Jeff Mullen's all-time career doubles wins record, with a record of 54-11. Their .818 winning percentage is currently the second-highest career doubles winning percentage in UO history.

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
The Ducks will put their undefeated home streak up against some stiff competition this weekend. Following their 4-0 win over Utah State during UO's last home match, the Ducks remained undefeated at the Student Tennis Center with an 8-0 home record. In fact, Oregon has only conceded two points on its home court, both singles wins by Wisconsin. The home court advantage will greatly benefit the Ducks this weekend as both UCLA and USC have a combined 1-3 record in away matches this 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 then, 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.

GRAB YOUR BROOMS
So far this season, the Ducks have recorded seven victories without conceding a single point. 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
Sophomore Ty Gentry kept his double-digit singles winning streak alive in UO's most recent match against Iowa. Despite his first match of the weekend being left unfinished, Gentry closed out the road trip with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Iowa's Jonas Larsen. The win extended his streak to 11 straight, dating back to this past fall. So far this spring, the Olympia, Wash., native, is undefeated in dual play with a 7-0 singles record, splitting tim between the No. 5 and No. 6 positions. 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 54-12 all-time, ranking them second on the UO all-time doubles wins list. They need only three 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 15-5 overall, 7-3 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 14-7 record this season. Currently, Stevens has a 69-34 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 59-28 career record at UO, passing 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 tied for second and fourth, respectively. Individually, they are right behind one another with Clissold accumulating 75 doubles wins during his career and Stevens logging 71 wins.

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 eighth on the UO all-time singles wins list with a 66-16 career record. His astonishing .805 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.

LOOKING AHEAD
Following this weekend's Pac-12 matches, the Ducks step out of conference play to close out their five match home stand. UO welcomes Santa Clara to Eugene next Thursday, Mar. 15, for an evening match, before facing Drake and UC Santa Barbara on Mar. 24, and Mar. 26, respectively.