The No. 15 Texas Tech men’s tennis team powered past No. 17 Ole Miss courtesy of a 4-0 shutout during its opening match of the ITA Kickoff Weekend Saturday at the Weller Indoor Tennis Center hosted by the University of Texas.
The Red Raiders (7-0) advance to the ITA Kickoff Weekend championship match Sunday at 1 p.m. CT and face off versus No. 21 Florida, who blanked No. 20 Texas by a 4-0 margin. The winner earns a trip to next month’s ITA National Indoor Championships.
“We didn’t play our best tennis, and I thought we played a little uptight at first,” Texas Tech head coach Brett Masi said. “That’s expected when you go on the road for the first time. I thought the six matches we played last weekend helped us out a lot during today’s action. Hugo (Dojas) played a great singles match. Jolan (Cailleau) and Bjorn (Thomson) are rolling and playing solid tough singles. All three did a great job of executing their game plans today.”
Texas Tech found success on the even courts in singles action and won a trio of matches on courts two, four and six, while picking up doubles victories at the No. 1 and No. 2 positions.
As usual, the Red Raiders secured the first doubles match on court one with nation’s second-ranked pair of Hugo Dojas and Felipe Soares, who topped Filip Kraljevic and Zvonimir Babic by a 6-3 count.
The Texas Tech duo of Alex Sendegeya and Bjorn Thomson finished the doubles point with a 6-2 triumph versus Fabian Fallert and Grey Hamilton in the No. 2 slot.
On court three, the Rebel pair of Stefan Lindmark and Ricardo Jorge led Jolan Cailleau and Connor Curry when play was halted.
Tech made it 2-0 behind Cailleau, who garnered a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Hamilton at the No. 4 position. Cailleau improved to 6-0 and has won all six of his decisions in straight sets.
The Red Raiders pushed their lead to 3-0 moments later from Thomson with a 7-5, 6-3 win on court six. At 5-5, Thomson grinded out the final two games of the opening set before he claimed the second set by a 6-3 margin.
Dojas downed Gustav Hansson with a 6-1, 7-5 triumph to close out the sweep. Trailing 4-0 in the second set, Dojas ripped off seven of the final eight games to secure the straight-set win.
The remaining three matches were suspended once the Red Raiders’ fourth point was tallied. When the action stopped, No. 8 Soares was leading No. 36 Lindmark 7-5, 2-5 on court one, No. 33 Sendegeya was trailing Kraljevic 6-7 (2), 5-3 on court three and Curry held an early third set let over Fallert on court five 2-6, 6-2, 2-0.
“I want us to play a little more relaxed and play with better intensity tomorrow against Florida,” Masi said. “We can’t have the valleys we had today, and we can’t let our play dip into our emotions. We’re a lot better team when we play with fire and energy. Florida is solid one through six in the lineup. We’ll need to play with intensity so we can fire on all cylinders.”
Next up, Texas Tech squares off with No. 21 Florida on Sunday with first serve on-tap for 1 p.m. CT. The winner will punch its ticket to ITA National Indoor Championships.
Visit www.TexasTech.com for the latest news and information on the men’s tennis program. Fans also can follow the program on its social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/TechMensTennis and @TexasTechTennis on Twitter.
No. 15 Texas Tech 4, No. 17 Ole Miss 0
01/23/16 at Austin, Texas (Weller Indoor Tennis Center)
Doubles
1. No. 2 Hugo Dojas/Felipe Soares (TT) defeats Filip Kraljevic/Zvonimir Babic (Ole Miss): 6-3
2. Alex Sendegeya/Bjorn Thomson (TT) defeats Fabian Fallert/Grey Hamilton (Ole Miss): 6-2
3. Jolan Cailleau/Connor Curry (TT) vs. Stefan Lindmark/Ricardo Jorge (Ole Miss): 2-5, unfinished
Singles
1. #8 Felipe Soares (Texas Tech) vs. #36 Stefan Lindmark (Ole Miss): 7-5, 2-5, unfinished
2. Hugo Dojas (Texas Tech) defeats Gustav Hansson (Ole Miss): 6-1, 7-5
3. #33 Alex Sendegeya (Texas Tech) vs. Filip Kraljevic (Ole Miss): 6-7 (2), 5-3, unfinished
4. Jolan Cailleau (Texas Tech) defeats Grey Hamilton (Ole Miss): 6-1, 6-3
5. Connor Curry (Texas Tech) vs. Fabian Fallert (Ole Miss): 2-6, 6-2, 2-0, unfinished
6. Bjorn Thomson (Texas Tech) defeats Ricardo Jorge (Ole Miss): 7-5, 6-3
Match Notes
Texas Tech (7-0); National ranking No. 15
Ole Miss 1-1; National ranking No. 17
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (4,6,2)