Men's Tennis Downs No. 38 Louisville to Extend Streak
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami men’s tennis team extended its win streak to three matches on Easter Sunday, defeating Louisville, 4-1, at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center.
The top-50 matchup between the No. 46 Hurricanes (11-7, 2-4 ACC) and the No. 38 Cardinals (14-6, 4-3 ACC) was decided within a minute, as three Canes – redshirt sophomore Dane Dunlap, senior Niclas Genovese and freshman Bojan Jankulovski, respectively – earned singles victories to clinch Miami’s second straight Atlantic Coast Conference victory.
“Another great win for our team, [coming] against this tough Louisville team,” Miami head coach Aljosa Piric said. “Everyone in the ACC is so good and so competitive that the matches literally come down to the last couple of sets. I’m really pleased with our guys’ effort; the fight was really good from the beginning of doubles all the way through singles.”
Miami took the lead after holding off late rallies at the top two doubles positions. The Canes’ No. 50 duo of freshman Adria Soriano and senior Christian Langmo added another top-15 win to their resume after closing out No. 14 Parker Wynn and Christopher Morin-Kougoucheff, 6-3, on a deuce point at No. 1.
Moments later Dunlap and Jankulovski, who also led 5-1 at one point, triumphed over Clement Filho and Federico Gomez by the same scoreline to clinch the point for Miami at the No. 2 spot.
“We probably played some of our best doubles all year,” Piric said. “We had a lot of energy and just disciplined work from the very beginning. We then took that momentum into singles.”
In the bottom of the lineup, freshman Pablo Aycart and senior Nile Clark were trailing George Hedley and Fredrik Moe 4-3 when play was halted. Aycart and Clark, who hold a 4-3 record together, teamed up for the first time since March 9.
Louisville struck first in singles play via Hedley, who downed freshman Tatsuki Shimamoto, 6-3, 7-5, at the No. 5 position to tie the match.
Dunlap was locked in an evenly fought battle with Gomez at No. 3, but demonstrated relentlessness in each set’s tiebreak to come out with a 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-3) victory. This was the second time in 2018 that Dunlap has triumphed over a player in both singles and doubles after doing so against New Orleans’ Nicolas Kramer in the opening weekend of the season.
After dropping the opening set to Brandon Lancaster in seven games, Genovese rallied back for the fifth time this season, 1-6, 6-3, 6-3, to give the Hurricanes a 3-1 lead. The senior improved to 5-2 in three-set contests and has dropped the first set in four of those five wins.
For the second straight Sunday, it was Jankulovski who wrapped up a Miami win against a ranked opponent, taking down Nicolas Rouanet, 7-5, 6-1, for his team-high 14th singles victory of the season.
“We are gaining some momentum here and we will be taking up north against Virginia Tech and Virginia next weekend,” Piric said.
Two matches were not decided at the time of the clinch. At the top of the lineup, No. 90 Langmo had a 4-3 edge in the third set against Morin-Kougoucheff. On court 2, Soriano led by the same margin after winning the second set, 7-5, to stay in the match.
The contests in Charlottesville, Va., and Blacksburg, Va. will be Friday at 3 p.m., and Sunday at noon, respectively.
For all of the latest news around Miami’s men’s tennis team, follow @CanesMensTennis on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram,or go to HurricaneSports.com.
RESULTS
Doubles Competition
1. No. 50 Christian Langmo/Adria Soriano (UM) def. No. 14 Christopher Morin-Kougoucheff/Parker Wynn (UL), 6-3
2. Bojan Jankulovski/Dane Dunlap (UM) def. Federico Gomez/Clement Filho (UL), 6-3
3. George Hedley/Fredrik Moe (UL) vs. Nile Clark/Pablo Aycart (UM), 4-3, unfinished
Singles Competition
1. No. 90 Christian Langmo (UM) vs. Christopher Morin-Kougoucheff (UL), 6-4, 3-6, 4-3, unfinished
2. Adria Soriano (UM) vs. No. 98 Parker Wynn (UL), 3-6, 7-5, 4-3, unfinished
3. Dane Dunlap (UM) def. Federico Gomez (UL), 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-3)
4. Bojan Jankulovski (UM) def. Nicolas Rouanet (UL), 7-5, 6-1
5. George Hedley (UL) def. Tatsuki Shimamoto (UM), 6-3, 7-5
6. Niclas Genovese (UM) def. Brandon Lancaster (UL), 1-6, 6-3, 6-3
