By Grant Morrison | Sports Writer
The second day of the NCAA singles and doubles championships saw Baylor men’s tennis senior duo Oskar Brostrom Poulsen and Marko Miladinovic advance in the opening round of doubles play on Wednesday at the Hurd Tennis Center.
Baylor men’s tennis sophomore Devin Badenhorst started the day against Wake Forest junior Dhakshineswar Suresh in the Round of 32. The first set was a competitive one, with the two players exchanging games back-and-forth until Suresh won two consecutive, taking the set 6-4. Suresh was more consistent in the second set, sweeping multiple games, and though he struggled to find his serve, he eventually overpowered Badenhorst to take the second and match, 6-2.
Baylor women’s tennis seniors Cristina Tiglea and Liubov Kostenko faced USC’s duo of senior Grace Piper and sophomore Lily Fairclough in the Bears’ first doubles match. The first set was all USC, as Piper and Fairclough outscored Tiglea and Kostenko en route to a 6-2 first set lead.
Not to be easily defeated, Tiglea and Kostenko opened the second set with a sweep of the first game. The USC duo found a rhythm later, and knocked the Bears out of the tournament, 6-4.
Badenhorst was teamed with junior Zsombor Velcz in a doubles matchup against Aadarsh Tripathi and Alexander Hoogmartens of UCLA. After dropping the first set 6-3, the Bears were down 4-2 in the second before fighting their way back to a 5-4 lead.
A misdirect hit from Badenhorst sent the two Bruins crashing into each other and the ball sailing harmlessly out of bounds as Baylor’s pair took a 6-5 lead. But UCLA climbed their way back in, tying it 6-6 and ultimately winning the tie-break game, 7-3.
In the final matchup of the day, Miladinovic and Brostrom Poulsen faced Ondrej Horak and Karim Al-Amin of Middle Tennessee State University.
“It was a really personal match, all the tension building up,” Brostrom Poulsen, who transferred from Middle Tennessee State last year, said. “All the boys in the stands made it a lot easier for me, so I’m really thankful for them.”
Each game alternated winners, until the first set was tied 5-5. Down 30-0, Miladinovic and Brostrom Poulsen clawed their way to a victory in the game, then another to take the first set 7-5.
MTSU won the first three games of the second set, and had possession of a 4-1 lead when a pair of strong aces from Brostrom Poulsen got the Bears right back in the match. The teams exchanged sweeps, then chants of “B-A-Y! L-O-R!” filled the air when the duo tied the set 6-6.
Middle Tennessee State came away from the second set with a win, sending the deciding points to a first-to-10 tie-break set.
Baylor scored first, but struggled against the sturdy defense of the MTSU duo. The Blue Raiders pummeled the Bears, scoring point after point until they reached an 8-3 lead before the pairs switched sides of the net.
With their backs to the wall, and a crowd of Baylor fans above them, Miladinovic and Brostrom Poulsen closed ranks, putting together a gritty series of points to claw their way back into the match.
“It was a true roller coaster,” Miladinovic said. “If we were playing somewhere else, it would have been very tough to come back. … This is our second home; we want to make Baylor proud because so many people were out there for us. We didn’t want to let go.”
As the crowd of Baylor fans roared their support, Middle Tennessee faulted their final serves and fell in the tie-break, 10-8.
“We showed what Baylor Bears is all about — fighting until the end,” Miladinovic said.
The duo will face Texas duo Timo Legout and Lucas Brown in the Sweet 16 Thursday at 2:30 p.m. at the Hurd Tennis Center.
