By Foster Nicholas | Sports Writer
Baylor men’s tennis appears to be back in a groove. Coming off two sweeps last weekend, the Bears traveled to Tulsa, Okla., and kept the hot streak going by defeating Oral Roberts University, 4-0, and the University of Tulsa, 4-2, in a doubleheader Wednesday.
Game one against Oral Roberts (6-13) started at noon and the green and gold looked to keep the opponent off the scoreboard for the third-straight match. The Bears did exactly that, as they swept all four points in under two hours.
Baylor (12-11) started the afternoon with strong doubles matches on each court. The first duo to finish was sophomore Justin Braverman and junior Christopher Frantzen, who breezed to an easy 6-1 victory on court three. Soon after, Baylor clenched the doubles point on court one. No. 11 doubles team in the nation, junior Tadeas Paroulek and freshman Zsomber Velcz, cruised to a 6-3 victory.
Even though court two didn’t finish, freshman Luc Koenig and senior Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi led 5-3 when the Bears took a 1-0 match lead.
Singles play was just as good for Baylor in the midday match. Frantzen took the first singles point on court six, 6-3, 6-0 and then proceeded to cheer on his teammates courtside. Court two came to a conclusion shortly after as sophomore Marko Miladinović took the first two sets, 6-2, 6-1.
Just one point away from victory, all four courts were in Baylor’s favor. Sophomore Ethan Muza on court four was the guy who got the job done, 7-5, 6-0 and the Bears took the match 4-0. When play came to a close, the team had either won, or were leading each and every set that was played.
The green and gold took a quick breather after keeping Oral Roberts off the board and then turned its attention to the hosting team, which was Tulsa (7-11).
Game two of the doubleheader served more solid doubles play, but these doubles pairings provided tighter contests. Braverman and Frantzen once more took their doubles match in convincing fashion, 6-1. On the other hand, Paroulek and Vetcz squeaked out a 7-6 (2) win on court one to give the Bears the first point of the nightcap.
Koenig and Mazzuchi weren’t able to finish their set again, as they were deadlocked in a 6-6 (2) skirmish on court two when doubles play concluded.
Baylor took its momentum into singles play, but the Hurricane showed some fight. Mazzuchi snagged the first singles match, 6-4, 6-0. Tulsa then answered as Muza fell 6-3, 6-2 on court six to move the match back within one, 2-1 Bears.
No. 94 Paroulek moved the green and gold one point closer to the finish line, as he won his match on court one 6-2, 6-4. Tulsa answered the call once more as Koenig dropped a pair of tight sets, 7-5, 6-4 on court five.
Play rattled on for over an hour before another point was put on the board. Miladinović sent the Bears home happy with a 4-2 match win, after he came back on court two, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5. The only match left unfinished was Vetcz on court three, who was on his way back, 5-7, 7-5, 4-2.
The Bears will return home to the Hurd Tennis Center on Saturday for another doubleheader. The day opens with a match against the University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley, with first serve at 11 a.m. The beginning of conference play for the green and gold will start at 6 p.m. against Texas Tech University.
