By Aidan O’Connor | Sports Writer
No. 18 Baylor men’s tennis dominated Tulsa with a 4-0 sweep Sunday afternoon inside the Michael D. Case Tennis Center, closing out a strong road performance.
“Really solid performance today,” head coach Michael Woodson said. “I thought we came out a little bit trying to play too well in the doubles on all three courts. We needed to be more solid, disciplined and kind of be more level tennis. We didn’t really do that, but we were able to get a key break at the end of Court Two. On Court Three, we broke and got broken back and then broke again. They did a good job of finishing off [points].”
The Bears (8-6) had a rocky start in doubles, as No. 12 seniors Oskar Brostrom Poulsen and Marko Miladinovic fell 6-3. However, the South African duo of junior Luc Koenig and sophomore Devin Badenhorst kept Baylor in the fight with a 6-4 victory.
On Court Three, junior Zsombor Velcz and sophomore Louis Bowden held a 5-4 lead and took advantage of the opportunity to seal the match. With the doubles point on the line, Velcz hit a forehand crosscourt winner to seal the win and secure the doubles point for the Bears.
“I give a ton of credit to the guys for coming out right away,” Woodson said. “Outside of Zsombor, who got off to a little bit of a slow start, everybody really jumped on top of their opponents. We were able to get some leads on three or four courts.”
The Bears came out red hot in singles, with Bowden taking down the first match in dominating fashion 6-0, 6-2. With a 2-0 lead, Baylor’s momentum built and reached its fever pitch when Badenhorst took home the win on Court One 6-4, 6-4.
Looking for one more, every court was still contested until graduate student Alexandru Chirita gained the upper hand and forced match point. Chirita hit a furious groundstroke that sent his opponent on the defense, making him hit an off-balance shot that Chirita took in stride and volleyed for a winner. His victory sealed Baylor’s 4-0 sweep.
“[Tulsa’s] a tough team to beat here,” Woodson said. “They’re ranked relatively high for a reason. They’ve got some signature wins already and they’re not easy to play. It was good to get out of here with a clean 4-0 and head back home.”
The Bears will be back in action Saturday for a day-night doubleheader at the Hurd Tennis Center. They will face off against UTRGV at 1 p.m. and No. 20 Illinois at 6 p.m.
