Sunday, January 22
Denver, CO
11:30 AM
Rice University
4
at
3
Denver
Photo by: RICE SID
Owls Rally Past Pioneers
1/22/2023 5:57:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Open home season on Friday vs. Elon
In Brief: Rice snapped a three-match losing streak with a dramatic 4-3 win over Denver at Denver Tennis Park on Sunday.
The Details: After dropping three consecutive marathon matches this season after winning the doubles point, the Owls swept three key tiebreaker sets and shook off losing four of six first sets in singles to improve to 2-3 on the season. Denver fell to 1-2.
Doubles: After dropping the match at the second line, Dylan Heap and Santiago Navarro evened things up with a 6-4 win at the first line. Kabeer Kapasi and Yasha Zemel delivered the point with a 9-7 tiebreak win at the third position. Kapasi and Zemel improved to 4-0 this season as Rice improved to a combined 9-3 record in doubles, taking the point in four of the first five matches.
Singles: Denver set the early pace, taking four consecutive first sets, but Campbell Salmon and Kapasi snapped the streak with wins at the sixth and fifth lines, with Kapasi's coming in a tiebreaker. Meanwhile, Emir Sendogan bounced back from a 6-2 opening set loss to force a third set with a 7-5 win. After Denver moved in front 2-1 with wins at the second and third lines, Kapasi tied the score with a win at the fifth position. The Pioneers moved back in front 3-2 with a win at the first line, setting the stage for Salmon and Sendogan. After dropping his second set, Salmon jumped out to a 5-1 lead and closed his match out 6-3 to tie the match, 3-3. Sendogan shook off an early break in his third set to win two of the last three games and set up the deciding tiebreaker. He clinched it when DU's Conner Olsen's return of serve was long, improving his season singles record to 5-0.
Efe Ustundag: What a match! It was looking a little bleak for a while, but you have to give this team credit. This is a big win for them. In doubles, we were down 5-6 at three but Yasha and Kabeer kept fighting. Campbell and Kabeer gave us a chance with their first sets (in singles) and they were able to close them out. Winning all three tiebreakers tells you about the fight in this team today. We've not played a match in less than 3:20 so far this year and lost some really tough ones, but they kept their focus. We've played four, 4-3 matches (in the first five this season) and they all ended in a court rush. Our guys earned the right to celebrate today.
Up Next Rice (2-3) opens the 2023 home dual season on Friday when they host Elon at 1 p.m.
The Details: After dropping three consecutive marathon matches this season after winning the doubles point, the Owls swept three key tiebreaker sets and shook off losing four of six first sets in singles to improve to 2-3 on the season. Denver fell to 1-2.
Doubles: After dropping the match at the second line, Dylan Heap and Santiago Navarro evened things up with a 6-4 win at the first line. Kabeer Kapasi and Yasha Zemel delivered the point with a 9-7 tiebreak win at the third position. Kapasi and Zemel improved to 4-0 this season as Rice improved to a combined 9-3 record in doubles, taking the point in four of the first five matches.
Singles: Denver set the early pace, taking four consecutive first sets, but Campbell Salmon and Kapasi snapped the streak with wins at the sixth and fifth lines, with Kapasi's coming in a tiebreaker. Meanwhile, Emir Sendogan bounced back from a 6-2 opening set loss to force a third set with a 7-5 win. After Denver moved in front 2-1 with wins at the second and third lines, Kapasi tied the score with a win at the fifth position. The Pioneers moved back in front 3-2 with a win at the first line, setting the stage for Salmon and Sendogan. After dropping his second set, Salmon jumped out to a 5-1 lead and closed his match out 6-3 to tie the match, 3-3. Sendogan shook off an early break in his third set to win two of the last three games and set up the deciding tiebreaker. He clinched it when DU's Conner Olsen's return of serve was long, improving his season singles record to 5-0.
Efe Ustundag: What a match! It was looking a little bleak for a while, but you have to give this team credit. This is a big win for them. In doubles, we were down 5-6 at three but Yasha and Kabeer kept fighting. Campbell and Kabeer gave us a chance with their first sets (in singles) and they were able to close them out. Winning all three tiebreakers tells you about the fight in this team today. We've not played a match in less than 3:20 so far this year and lost some really tough ones, but they kept their focus. We've played four, 4-3 matches (in the first five this season) and they all ended in a court rush. Our guys earned the right to celebrate today.
Up Next Rice (2-3) opens the 2023 home dual season on Friday when they host Elon at 1 p.m.
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
2,1,3
#1 Singles Match
123
362
Nicolas Cuesta / 0 [DEN]
646
#2 Singles Match
12
44
Sancho Arbizu,Daniel / 0 [DEN]
66
#3 Singles Match
12
34
Peter Sallay / 0 [DEN]
66
#4 Singles Match
123
277
Conner Olsen / 0 [DEN]
656
#5 Singles Match
12
77
Anish Sriniketh / 0 [DEN]
65
#6 Singles Match
123
636
Mitch Johnson / 0 [DEN]
462
Order of Finish:
3,2,5,1,6,4
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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