Rice University
UTRGV
Men's Tennis Cruises to 7-0 Victory Over UTRGV
1/17/2025 5:26:00 PM | Men's Tennis
HOUSTON - Rice men's tennis used strong efforts from multiple players to earn a 7-0 victory to open the spring portion of the schedule on Friday afternoon at the George R. Brown Tennis Center.
Action began with doubles, where the 43rd-ranked tandem of Arthus de la Bassetiere and Kabeer Kapasi finished their first match with a 6-3 victory over UTRGV's tandem. On court two, Eduardo Morais and Yair Sarouk fell by a score of 3-6, posing a winner-take-all situation at the third court. Petro Kuzmenok and Joshua Mandelbaum were able to rally from an early deficit to take the match with a decision of 6-3, clinching the doubles point for the Owls.
In singles action, three Owls got off to hot starts and rode the momentum to victories clinching the victory for Rice early. First, Kapasi jumped ahead of Will Roberts at court four to take the first set 6-2, and continued to power through to a 6-1 victory in the second set, taking Rice's second point. At court two, Kuzmenok did the same against Ivo Isqueiro, taking a dominate 6-1 decision early and earning a 6-2 victory in the second set to put Rice up 3-0. Emir Sendogan came through with the clinching victory, with a 6-2, 6-3 win at court three, putting Rice up 4-0.
The teams continued to play the match out, which saw Rice continue to rack up points. At court six, Sarouk was able to fight back to rally and take the first set from Paolo Bonaguro, 7-5, before winning the second set in convincing fashion at 6-2 to make it 5-0 in favor of Rice. Morais won the first super tiebreaker of the season for Rice, battling back from a 6-0 defeat in the first set to take the second set at 6-4, then winning the tiebreaker 10-6 in the third set for the sixth victory for Rice on the day.
Arthus de la Bassetiere was locked in a back-and-forth affair at the first court, falling by a thin margin of 7-4 in the first set. In the second set, he overcame his opponent with the same margin, 7-4 in the tiebreaker for a 7-6 victory. In the super tiebreaker, the two would nutlet the other break away, but de la Bassetiere found a way to get ahead and finish with a 14-12 tiebreaker, clinching Rice's first sweep of the season.
Men's tennis returns to action tomorrow, Saturday, January 18, for a doubleheader against the Prairie View A&M Panthers. Action begins at 11 a.m.
RESULTS
DOUBLES
#43 A. de la Bassetiere/K. Kapasi (RICE) def. I. Isqueiro/L. Young (UTRGV), 6-3
S. Whitehead/I. Smyth (UTRGV) def. E. Morais/Y. Sarouk (RICE), 6-3
P. Kuzmenok/J. Mandelbaum (RICE) def. E. Menezes/W. Roberts (UTRGV), 6-3
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3
SINGLES
A. de la Bassetiere (RICE) def. S. Whitehead (UTRGV), 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-4), 1-0 (14-12)
P. Kuzmenok (RICE) def. I. Isqueiro (UTRGV), 6-1, 6-2
E. Sendogan (RICE) def. S. Serrano (UTRGV), 6-2, 6-3
K. Kapasi (RICE) def. W. Roberts (UTRGV), 6-2, 6-1
E. Morais (RICE) def. L. Young (UTRGV), 0-6, 6-4, 1-0 (6)
Y. Sarouk (RICE) def. P. Bonaguro (UTRGV), 7-5, 6-2
Order of Finish: 4, 2, 3, 6, 5, 1
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
1,2,3
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
4,2,3,6,5,1
Players Mentioned
