CLAREMONT, Calif. – The University of Chicago men's tennis team picked up its first win of the season against a nationally-ranked team and outlasted California Lutheran University 5-4 on Wednesday.
The No. 28-ranked Maroons improved to 6-5 and the No. 20-ranked Kingsmen fell to 2-6.
UChicago picked up the early advantage by winning two of the three doubles matches. The No. 1 doubles tandem (junior Deepak Sabada and freshman Sven Kranz) and the No. 3 doubles team (senior Zsolt Szabo and senior Krishna Ravella) won handily by identical 8-3 scores.
The extra point proved critical as the two teams split the six singles matches evenly. The three Maroons at No. 2, 4 and 6 were victorious without allowing more than five games in their matches. Sabada, freshman Brian Sun and freshman Max Hawkins earned the wins.
"Today's win was a great win for the program," said Head Coach Jay Tee. "It's been nearly three years since we've defeated a top 20 program and we did it the right way: through hard work, playing for each other and competing hard. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come and we will continue to improve and mature as a team."
UChicago 5, Cal Lutheran 4
Singles
1. Moises Cardenas (CLU) def. Sven Kranz (UC) 6-2, 7-5
2. Deepak Sabada (UC) def. Alex Nichols (CLU) 6-1, 6-1
3. Connor Treacy (CLU) def. Ankur Bhargava (UC) 6-1, 3-6, 6-1
4. Brian Sun (UC) def. Sean Handley (CLU) 6-3, 6-2
5. Ian Slater (CLU) def. Zsolt Szabo (UC) 6-4, 6-0
6. Max Hawkins (UC) def. Jesse Knight (CLU) 6-2, 6-2
Doubles
1. Deepak Sabada/Sven Kranz (UC) def. Alex Nichols/Connor Treacy (CLU) 8-3
2. Moises Cardenas/Fergus Scott (CLU) def. Max Hawkins/Gordon Zhang (UC) 8-3
3. Zsolt Szabo/Krishna Ravella (UC) def. Sean Handley/J.Lunding-Johansson (CLU) 8-3
NEXT MATCH:
- Friday, Mar. 28 – UChicago at UC San Diego, 11 AM (PT)
