The Daily of the University of Washington

MEN’S TENNIS: Open Duck season for Huskies in season finale


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The Washington men’s tennis team blew the Ducks out of the water in their final Pac-10 match of the season, defeating them 6-1. In the second meeting between the two teams this season, the Huskies swept the doubles and won all but one of the singles matches to ensure at least a third-place finish in the conference.

From the outset, the Huskies showed that they meant business. The third doubles team of Andy Kuharszky and Derek Drabble crushed their opponents with a quick 8-1 victory.

Their example was quickly followed by Mike Ricks and Patrik Fischer on the No. 2 court, where the pair notched their team-best 20th win of the season by defeating Oregon’s Geoff Embry and Alexander Cornelissen 8-3.

Seniors Alex Slovic and Daniel Chu — the career doubles wins leaders at the UW — finished out the point with an 8-4 win, making it the 83rd doubles victory for each player.

Slovic continued to make his mark in the Washington record books with a rapid 6-1, 6-1 dismantling of Oregon’s Marcos Verdasco. Slovic, who is the No. 74 singles player in the nation, moved past former teammate and All-American Alex Vlaski to claim second place on the UW combined doubles and singles win list.

Alex Vlaski was instrumental in getting Slo to come here [to the UW],” coach Matt Anger said of the pair’s reversal of roles in the record book. “It’s an interesting dynamic.”

Fischer, who is playing his first season for the Huskies after sitting out his first year, continued to shine in singles with a 6-4, 6-0 victory on the No. 4 court. Coming into this season, there were high expectations for Fischer’s performance, and he has more than lived up to them, boasting a 17-9 singles record and some close matches against tough players, including two nail biters at USC and UCLA.

Kuharszky, the junior co-captain, clinched the match for the Huskies with a straight-set victory over Embry at No. 3 singles, giving him a team-best 23-7 singles record this season. Chu and Drabble went on to win their matches as well, Drabble in dramatic fashion after being pushed to a third set by Oregon’s Mike Myrhead.

Ricks suffered the Huskies’ only loss in agonizing fashion, losing in a third set tiebreaker at No. 6 singles.

Looking forward to this week’s Pac-10 championships in Ojai, Calif., the men will have to keep their winning mindset intact.

Especially for the newer guys, it’s going to be important for us to go out and get the win, rather than let the other team take it from us,” associate coach Chris Russell said. “We need to play with the mentality to earn it.”

Reach Risa Pavia at sports@thedaily.washington.edu.


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