Over the weekend, the Utah men’s tennis remained unbeaten after its home opener doubleheader on Sunday, beating Nevada, 4-0, and Idaho State, 6-1.
Head coach Roeland Brateanu was all smiles after the doubleheader.
“Feels pretty good. We’re excited about it,” Brateanu said. “We’re missing four starters, and for these guys to come out and go 5-0 against these teams, we’re very happy about it.”
Despite the early 10 a.m. start, the Utes were ready to go and full of energy. After every point at Eccles Tennis Center, you could hear teammates in the stands yelling encouragement, and there was plenty to cheer about on Sunday morning.
At the No. 2 doubles spot, Matt Cowley and Jamey Swiggart improved to 4-0 on the season in doubles play, dispatching Nevada’s Peter O’Donovan and Aaron Breust 6-1. Egbert Weverink and Santiago Sierra clinched the doubles point for Utah, winning a tight match over Andrew Poustie and Robert Allan on the No. 1 court, 7-6 (7-5).
The Utes took the momentum into singles play, where Nevada didn’t win a single set. On court No. 4, Johan Jonhagen set the tone for the rest of the match by beating the Wolfpack’s Allan 6-0, 6-0. With the win, Jonhagen remains undefeated in singles play.
Cowley got his first singles win at the No. 1 slot for the Utes this year, beating Ryan Andrada 6-3, 6-4 to put Utah up 3-0 in the match. In the No. 6 position, Sierra would finish the match off by beating O’Donovan 6-2, 6-3, much to the chagrin of teammate David Micevski, who had match point against Mile Cilic when the match was called.
Two out of three of Micevski’s matches have been called early, and he was upset that he couldn’t play the point, yelling at the umpire and throwing his racket. Weverink, Miceviski and Swiggart’s matches were unfinished after the Utes secured the victory at 4-0. All six Utes won their first set in singles play.
Sunday marked the first time Utah has played Nevada since Feb. 22, 2008, when it beat the Wolfpack 7-0 in Salt Lake City.
Despite a three-hour turnaround time, Utah dominated the Idaho State Bengals in the second match of the doubleheader. Johangen and Micevski remained perfect in doubles play, beating the Idaho State’s Francis Filipovich and Mitch Steadman 6-0 on the No. 3 court. Weverink and Sierra locked up the doubles point for the Utes, beating Bengal brothers Sebastian and William Edin in the No. 1 slot, 6-3.
Utah defaulted on the sixth court, not playing anyone due to injuries and the fatigue from a doubleheader, giving Idaho State its only point of the match. Sierra beat Filpovich at the No. 5 position, 6-1, 6-0 to put the Utes up 2-1. Jonhagen continued his winning ways, defeating Josh Goodwin in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2.
“It’s the greatest feeling. It’s the first time being 5-0 in my college career,” Johagen said.
Cowley clinched the match after beating Sebastian Edin 6-2, 6-4, putting the Utes up 4-1. Idaho State and Utah then agreed to finish the remaining matches, a surprising move considering the Utes were on the second leg of a doubleheader.
Swiggart, a Bengal for two years before transferring to Utah, beat his former teammate Bjorn Scheepbouwer, 6-3, 6-4. Weverink beat William Edin in the last match, winning 6-3, 4-6, 6-5.
The Utes won all their first singles sets on Sunday and only lost one set over two matches.
“I think the guys have been doing a really good job in preparation, and they’re really disciplined and executing what we’ve been asking from them, so I think that’s what we got to continue to do,” Brateanu said.
The Utes play another doubleheader vs. Northern Arizona (0-0) and Weber State (0-1) on Saturday, Jan. 30 at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m MST.
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