By Anna Grace Hale | Sports Intern
No. 2 Baylor men’s tennis secured two 7-0 sweeps against Abilene Christian University and Boise State University on Monday at home. During the doubleheader victory, fifth-year senior Sven Lah took his 100th career doubles win as he and junior Finn Bass triumphed over the Boise State doubles pairing.
Even with some COVID-19 struggles earlier this year resulting in postponed games, the Bears, now 4-0, have entered open season play on a positive note and continue to dominate on their home courts. With these wins, the Bears have 21 clean sweeps under head coach Michael Woodson.
“It was a good day today, really good to be back at home. We immediately looked more comfortable in this environment and more solid overall,” Woodson said. “I think we’re starting to play ourselves into good form, so I was really pleased with the kind of performances of everybody. More than anything, I was just impressed with Sven [Lah] reaching 100 doubles wins for his career. He has a lot more ahead of him, and it just says a lot about what he’s been able to accomplish here in his time. I’m excited to see where we go from here.”
With his victory over the Broncos, Lah is the fifth player in Baylor program history to hit 100 doubles wins in his career. He is tied for fourth most with former Bear Matija Zgaga. With two more doubles wins, he will tie Baylor Hall of Famer Lars Poerschke.
The Bears started their doubleheader day off strong as they secured the doubles point against the Wildcats (0-5). Fifth-year senior Matias Soto and freshman Ethan Muza picked up a 6-3 victory. Junior Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi and sophomore Christopher Frantzen secured a 6-2 win. No. 18 doubles pairing Lah and Bass closed out doubles play with a 6-4 win, resulting in Lah’s 99th doubles win.
Singles play proved to be equally successful, as Muza refused to drop a set to ACU sophomore Mihaly Deli, winning 6-0, 6-0. On court three, Bass won 6-1, 6-2. The Bears’ fourth point came from Lah who won 6-2, 6-3 for his 93rd career singles win.
As the matches continued, Grassi Mazzuchi won 6-3, 6-2 for Baylor’s fifth point. Soto secured a 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) victory on court one, which brought the final point to court five where graduate student Jacob Brumm won 7-5, 7-6 (7-5).
Monday evening, the Bears took the court again to face the Broncos (2-3). As doubles play commenced, Lah and Bass secured another victory, continuing their undefeated streak 4-0 in dual matches. This win was the famous 100 for Lah.
“[Sven Lah] just got his 100th win today in doubles which is a great achievement,” Bass said. “He obviously knows his way around the doubles court and so do I; We’ve had a really good start to the season with killer wins, and we’re just going to keep it going.”
To clinch the doubles point, the duo of junior Adrian Boitan and sophomore Tadeas Paroulek won their match 6-0. Lastly, Grassi Mazzuchi and junior Cole Gromley came away with a 6-3 victory.
Monday’s singles started with another win for the green and gold from Muza, 6-0, 6-2. Next, Bass won his match 6-1, 6-2. On court one, Boitan was victorious 6-3, 6-0.
To finish out singles play, Grassi Mazzuchi secured his second win of the day, 6-2, 6-3. After dropping one set, Soto came out on top 3-6, 6-1(10-2), and to finish Baylor’s doubleheader, Gromley won a hard-fought battle 7-6(7-5), 6-4.
Baylor men’s tennis will host the College of William & Mary, Clemson University and the University of Miami as one of the 15 host sites for ITA Kickoff Weekend next week. Baylor will start play at 2 p.m. on Sunday against W&M.
