Feb. 7, 2009
Coral Gables, Fla. – The 23rd-ranked Miami Hurricanes swept through the 63rd-ranked Clemson Tigers, 7-0, on Saturday afternoon with six singles and three doubles victories in men’s tennis action which was also the ACC-opener for both programs at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center in Coral Gables, Fla. With the win, Miami improves to 3-2 (1-0 ACC), while Clemson falls even at 3-3 (0-1 ACC).
UM head coach Mario Rincon couldn’t have asked for a better showing from his team on Saturday as the Hurricanes had to rally in the doubles sets to earn the point. Of the three sets, the No. 1 position was in come-from behind fashion, while the second (No. 2) went into a tie-break.
At the No. 1 position in doubles play, Miami’s duo of David Simon and Christian Blocker ran out to a 5-1 advantage over the Tigers’ Gera Boryachinskiy and Roz Bizjak before Clemson put on a furious rally. The Tigers went ahead 6-5 in the match before Miami used a 40-15 advantage, finished by a service ace from Blocker, to knot the match, 6-6. Miami used the last three points in the match to earn the 8-6 win.
In the No. 2 position, David Rosenfeld and Keith Crowley took the court together for the Orange and Green against Clemson’s Carlos Alvarez and Wesley Moran. The match went back-and-forth most of the way until UM ran out to a seemingly decisive 6-3 advantage after trailing 3-2. The match would soon be tied, 7-7, when Rosenfeld and Crowley earned a feverish 9-7 tie-break with two costly double-faults charged to the Tigers.
UM took an 8-7 (9-7) win at No. 2, while the Hurricanes’ Ignacio Taboada and Carl Sundberg breezed through Ike Belk and Kevin Galloway, 8-3 in the No. 3 position.
The `Canes led 1-0 heading into singles play.
“Keith and David [Rosenfeld] won a tight doubles match for us, and that helped us carry the momentum over into singles play,” expressed Mario Rincon shortly afterwards.
In singles play, there were only two short-lived matches as each of the others was as exciting as advertised in the doubles point.
Miami’s David Simon took a convincing straight-set win over Kevin Galloway, 6-1, 6-4 at the No. 4 position. Meanwhile, Keith Crowley earned a similar 6-3, 6-4 straight-set win over Clemson’s Ike Belk.
Miami would eventually take the match-point, 4-0, with a hard-fought and heated 6-3, 6-3 advantage from Miami native David Rosenfeld at the No. 2 position. The match featured some brilliant shots down the line; exciting volleys; and was a lot closer than the scores indicate, as the first set would not end without seven deuces throughout two games. For Rosenfeld, this was his first singles match back since the ITA Regional in October. He upped his record to an even 4-4 on the season following the win.
“We are very glad to have David Rosenfeld back playing again after recovering from surgery,” expressed Rincon.
Carl Sundberg (No. 96) used a straight-set 7-6 (6-4), 6-3 win over Clemson’s Kevin Fleck at the No. 5 position to stretch the Hurricanes lead out to 5-0 at that point.
But at the No. 1 position, a battle between UM’s Christian Blocker and Clemson’s Carlos Alvarez ensued that had the crowd on their feet the entire time.
Alvarez quickly jumped out to a 6-3 win in the first set, while Blocker battled back for a mirror 6-3 score in the second set. With the match tied at a set apiece, Blocker jumped out by four games (4-0) right from the start in the deciding set. Alvarez answered to bring himself to within 4-3 before Blocker served a blistering ace down the line to put himself up 40-30. He would go up 5-3 when he shot a laser back to Alvarez that was right on the line–though challenged, and seemed to turn the match.
Blocker would take the final two games with the help of breaking Alvarez’s serve for the third time in the set–one that included a double-fault (Alvarez) and a beautiful drop-shot by Blocker. Blocker would eventually take the set, 6-4 … giving him the victory (3-6, 6-3, 6-4). For Blocker, the win couldn’t have been any sweeter as the German native collected his first win of the year, improving to 1-3 on the campaign.
“Christian [Blocker] played a lot more aggressive today, and used all of his weapons,” stated a proud Rincon. “We played solid in every spot today.”
The final match was at the No. 3 position where UM’s Ignacio Taboada came from a set down to defeat Clemson’s Gera Boryachinskiy in a three-set marathon. Boryachinskiy took the opener, 6-4, while Taboada rallied in the second, 6-3. In the deciding set, Boryachinskiy went up 1-0 before Taboada went on a feverish 5-0 run to take a commanding 5-2 advantage.
Taboada broke-serve in the final set to earn the come-from-behind win, on scores of 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
The next home match for the `Canes will be tomorrow at 2 p.m. as they take on the Penn Quakers back at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center. Admission is free, and all are invited to attend.
For more information on Miami men’s tennis, please log on to www.hurricanesports.com, and navigate your way to the men’s tennis home page where you will find up-to-date stats, standings and a complete archive of news and releases.
#23 Miami 7, #63 Clemson 0
Singles competition
1. Christian Blocker (UM) def. Carlos Alvarez (CU) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
2. David Rosenfeld (UM) def. Roz Bizjak (CU) 6-3, 6-3
3. Ignacio Taboada (UM) def. Gera Boryachinskiy (CU) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
4. David Simon (UM) def. Kevin Galloway (CU) 6-1, 6-4
5. #96 Carl Sundberg (UM) def. Kevin Fleck (CU) 7-6 (6-4), 6-3
6. Keith Crowley (UM) def. Ike Belk (CU) 6-3, 6-4
Doubles competition
1. David Simon/Christian Blocker (UM) def. Gera Boryachinskiy/Roz Bizjak (CU) 8-6
2. David Rosenfeld/Keith Crowley (UM) def. Carlos Alvarez/Wesley Moran (CU) 8-7 (9-7)
3. Ignacio Taboada/Carl Sundberg (UM) def. Ike Belk/Kevin Galloway (CU) 8-3
Match Notes:
Clemson 3-3, 0-1 ACC; National ranking #63
Miami 3-2, 1-0 ACC; National ranking #23
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (4,6,5,2,1,3)
ACC opener for both teams.
Match was delayed 25 minutes due to rain prior to the start of singles play.T-3:50 A-203