ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. – In a contest full of tiebreakers and long matches, the University of Chicago men's tennis team came away on the wrong side of a 5-3 decision against Washington University-St. Louis in the University Athletic Association (UAA) Championship semifinals on Friday.
The No. 5-ranked Maroons (15-4 record) will next play No. 8-ranked Carnegie Mellon University in the third-place match on Saturday. The No. 7-ranked Bears (16-4) advance to play No. 1-ranked Emory University in the final.
UChicago came in as the No. 2 seed in the eight-team conference tournament and WashU entered as the No. 3 seed. Doubles was razor-close all the way through, with two matches going to a tiebreaker. The Bears won at the second position 9-8 (7-2) and at the third position 8-6. The Maroons were in danger of going down at the top spot as well, but sophomores Nicolas Chua and David Liu roared back from a 5-1 tiebreak deficit to get the win, 9-8 (10-8).
WashU earned a quick singles win to go up 3-1 and it was back and forth from there. Sophomore Luke Tsai took his No. 6 singles match 6-3, 6-2. The four remaining bouts turned into three-set marathons. An injury forfeit put the Bears within one point of the win at 4-2. Junior Sven Kranz brushed off a tough first set by winning at No. 4 by scores of 3-6, 6-2, 6-3. At No. 2 singles, WashU earned the clincher shortly before a rain storm arrived. The final match at No. 1 singles went down as unfinished.
Washington-St. Louis 5, UChicago 3
Singles
1. Nicolas Chua (UC) vs. John Carswell (WU) 6-7 (5-7), 7-5, unfinished
2. Johnny Wu (WU) def. David Liu (UC) 6-3, 5-7, 6-1
3. Tyler Kratky (WU) def. Charlie Pei (UC) 6-0, 6-1
4. Sven Kranz (UC) def. Jeremy Bush (WU) 3-6, 6-2, 6-3
5. Jason Haugen (WU) def. Peter Leung (UC) 4-6, 7-6 (12-10), 1-0, retired
6. Luke Tsai (UC) def. Jake Klein (WU) 6-3, 6-2
Doubles
1. Nicolas Chua/David Liu (UC) def. Jason Haugen/Konrad Kozlowski (WU) 9-8 (10-8)
2. Johnny Wu/Josh Cogan (WU) def. Charlie Pei/Peter Leung (UC) 9-8 (7-2)
3. Jeremy Bush/Tyler Kratky (WU) def. Luke Tsai/Max Hawkins (UC) 8-6
NEXT MATCH:
- Saturday, April 23 – UChicago vs. Carnegie Mellon at UAA Championship (Altamonte Springs, Fla.), 9 AM (ET)
