Rice University
Wichita State
Men's Tennis Opens Ralph O'Connor Rice Invitational with 4-0 Win Versus Wichita State
3/22/2024 2:51:00 PM | Men's Tennis
HOUSTON, Texas — Rice men's tennis opened the 65th Ralph O'Connor Rice Invitational on Friday with a 4-0 win over Wichita State at the George R. Brown Tennis Center. The Owls have now won five consecutive matches.
Doubles: The Owls opened strongly on all three courts in doubles play. At the first position, senior Yasha Zemel and sophomore Kabeer Kapasi controlled their match all the way through a 6-3 victory. At the third spot, juniors Arthus de la Bassetiere and Eduardo Morais closed out the doubles point with a 6-2 win. Senior Trinity Grear and freshman Petro Kuzmenok were tied, 4-4, at the second position at the time the doubles point was clinched.
Singles: Shortly after the start of singles play, Rice earned another point as Kapasi won on court six via opponent retirement. The Owls then crossed the finish line in the match with two dominant victories at the first and fifth positions. Zemel won at the top spot of the lineup, 6-1, 6-0, before Kuzmenok then clinched the match with a 6-0, 6-0 win at court five. At the time the point was clinched, de la Bassetiere led at the third position, 6-2, 2-3, while junior Emir Sendogan led at the fourth spot, 6-4, 1-2.
Head coach Efe Ustundag: "We set the tone early in doubles with a couple of breaks and we really continued that into singles. Four out of the six courts, we were up a break right off the bat. The first chance we got to receive, we broke, so I think we sent a strong message. It's very unfortunate what happened at six. Hopefully, the kid is not in that bad of a shape and it's a minor injury and his season can still continue. That kind of put a bit of an unhappy twist to an otherwise really, really great day of tennis for us. When you have a chance to get off the court this quickly, It's always a good thing for the program and for the guys. I'm very happy about the way they worked out today. Now we watch the other boys play tomorrow and get ready for Sunday."
Up Next: The Owls are set to host a neutral match between Wichita State and UAB tomorrow as part of the 65th Ralph O'Connor Rice Invitational. The Owls will face off against the Blazers on Sunday, March 24. All weekend matches are scheduled for 11 a.m. (CT).
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
1,3
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
6,1,5
Players Mentioned
