Saturday, January 14
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
12:30 PM
Rice University
4
vs
3
USF
Zemel Delivers in Season-Opening Thriller
1/14/2023 5:18:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Tiebreak give Rice 4-3 win
In Brief: Yasha Zemel clawed his way back from a 6-1 loss in his first set and fought off a late match point to outlast South Florida's Alvin Tudorica 1-6, 6-3, 7-6(2) and give Rice a season-opening 4-3 win over the Bulls in Boca Raton, Florida on Saturday.
The Details: A transfer from Kentucky who posted a 6-1 record in fall, Zemel shook off his first set to battle back to take the second set while his Owls teammates shook off the loss of the doubles point to draw even and set the stage for Zemel's decisive 7-2 win in the tiebreaker over Tudorica who was ranked 67th nationally at the end of the fall season.
Doubles: USF took the early advantage with a 6-3 win at the first line, but Zemel and freshman Kabeer Kapasi struck back with a 6-3 at the third position. USF clinched the point at the second line 7-5.
Singles: The Owls immediately went to work to erase the early Bulls lead as Emir Sendogan and Wes Barnett, playing at the fifth and sixth lines, posted 6-0 wins in their first sets. Barnett kept up the pace in the second set, closing out his opponent in less than an hour to even the score, 1-1. But USF split the six first sets in singles, assuring the Owls the need of at least one win in three sets. The Bulls ramped up the pressure with wins at the second and fourth lines but Sendogan and Trinity Grear maintained their first set advantages to lead the score tied 3-3. At the same time, Zemel had righted himself from a shaky 6-1 loss in his opening set to take the second 6-3 as his teammates closed the gap to put the match on his racquet. The decisive set went back and forth, with Zemel fighting off a match point and then breaking at 5-5 to give him a chance to serve for the match. Tudorica broke back to force a tiebreaker, but Zemel took command early and delivered the final point with a 7-2 win.
Efe Ustundag: "I had said how close this team has become since the start of the fall and today was a great example. I knew coming in this was going to be a tough competition and the conditions today (windy and temperatures in the mid 40s) made it even tougher. We started slowly in doubles but we had our chances. We broke to get back to 4-3 at one but then let them break right back. The biggest thing for us was how we responded in singles. Having Emir and Wes come out and win those first sets 6-0 took a little wind out of USF's momentum. Yasha was out of synch early but he kept his focus on the game plan and we showed a lot of mental toughness out there. Yasha went from losing 6-1 to not getting broken again until he was serving at 6-5 in the third and he shook that off and went right back to work in the tiebreaker. The first match of the day (UCSB defeating FAU 4-2) was a battle and we know we can expect nothing else the next two days."
Up Next Rice (1-0) and FAU (0-1) will meet at 12:30 (central) on Sunday. Live stats will be available here
The Details: A transfer from Kentucky who posted a 6-1 record in fall, Zemel shook off his first set to battle back to take the second set while his Owls teammates shook off the loss of the doubles point to draw even and set the stage for Zemel's decisive 7-2 win in the tiebreaker over Tudorica who was ranked 67th nationally at the end of the fall season.
Doubles: USF took the early advantage with a 6-3 win at the first line, but Zemel and freshman Kabeer Kapasi struck back with a 6-3 at the third position. USF clinched the point at the second line 7-5.
Singles: The Owls immediately went to work to erase the early Bulls lead as Emir Sendogan and Wes Barnett, playing at the fifth and sixth lines, posted 6-0 wins in their first sets. Barnett kept up the pace in the second set, closing out his opponent in less than an hour to even the score, 1-1. But USF split the six first sets in singles, assuring the Owls the need of at least one win in three sets. The Bulls ramped up the pressure with wins at the second and fourth lines but Sendogan and Trinity Grear maintained their first set advantages to lead the score tied 3-3. At the same time, Zemel had righted himself from a shaky 6-1 loss in his opening set to take the second 6-3 as his teammates closed the gap to put the match on his racquet. The decisive set went back and forth, with Zemel fighting off a match point and then breaking at 5-5 to give him a chance to serve for the match. Tudorica broke back to force a tiebreaker, but Zemel took command early and delivered the final point with a 7-2 win.
Efe Ustundag: "I had said how close this team has become since the start of the fall and today was a great example. I knew coming in this was going to be a tough competition and the conditions today (windy and temperatures in the mid 40s) made it even tougher. We started slowly in doubles but we had our chances. We broke to get back to 4-3 at one but then let them break right back. The biggest thing for us was how we responded in singles. Having Emir and Wes come out and win those first sets 6-0 took a little wind out of USF's momentum. Yasha was out of synch early but he kept his focus on the game plan and we showed a lot of mental toughness out there. Yasha went from losing 6-1 to not getting broken again until he was serving at 6-5 in the third and he shook that off and went right back to work in the tiebreaker. The first match of the day (UCSB defeating FAU 4-2) was a battle and we know we can expect nothing else the next two days."
Up Next Rice (1-0) and FAU (0-1) will meet at 12:30 (central) on Sunday. Live stats will be available here
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
1,3,2
#1 Singles Match
123
167
Alvin Tudorica / 0 (67/-) [USFM]
636
#2 Singles Match
12
21
Erik Grevelius / 0 [USFM]
66
#3 Singles Match
12
76
Thomas Palvekovich-S / 0 [USFM]
54
#4 Singles Match
12
22
Bruno Oliveira / 0 [USFM]
66
#5 Singles Match
12
66
Tom Pisane / 0 [USFM]
04
#6 Singles Match
12
66
Samuel Frizelle / 0 [USFM]
02
Order of Finish:
6,2,4,3,5,1
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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