No. 25 Baylor MT Sweeps Season-Opening Doubleheader

Sat Jan 13 21:11:46 CST 2024

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – Jan. 13, 2024

No. 25 Baylor MT Sweeps Season-Opening Doubleheader
Bears allow one point in first two matches
For more information contact: Colin Pirtle; 940-564-0351, colin_pirtle1 at baylor.edu<mailto:colin_pirtle1 at baylor.edu>

WACO, Texas – The 25th-ranked Baylor men’s tennis team opened the 2024 campaign in style on Saturday, defeating ACU and Lamar, 6-1 and 7-0, respectively. In a day full of firsts, Devin Badenhorst, Louis Bowden, Martin Breysach, Oskar Brostrom Poulsen and Arman Zamani all picked up their first wins in a Baylor uniform, with all but Brostrom Poulsen collecting the first dual-match win of their career.

THE RUNDOWN

MATCH ONE

Baylor came out firing in doubles, as the pairing of Breysach and Brostrom Poulsen, who were both in their first dual match for the Bears, defeated Benjamin McDonald and Merse Deli, 6-1. Not long after, the seasoned vets of Tadeas Paroulek and Zsombor Velcz took a 6-2 match over Daniel Morozov and Ethan Scriber to clinch the doubles point.

Luc Koenig and Christopher Frantzen were on the rails in their doubles match against Dario Jmet and Mihaly Deli but were up 4-3 before it went unfinished.

Striking first and quick on Court One, Paroulek earned the first singles point of the year for BU after taking Morozov 6-1, 6-0. Marko Miladinovic was next, finishing off McDonald on Court Four, 6-2, 6-3.

The match was clinched in a Baylor victory as Ethan Muza beat Dario Kmet 6-2, 6-4, on Court Two.

Finishing out the remainder of singles play, Breysach picked up his first dual match singles win after sitting out last season, 6-3, 7-6(2), over ACU’s Dennis Dutine. The only point of the day for the Wildcats came on five, as Merse Deli defeated freshman Bowden in a tiebreak, 1-6, 6-4, 1-0 (13-11).

In what may be one of the most impressive battles this season, Brostrom Poulsen stormed back after dropping his first set, 7-6(3), with a 7-6(14-12) result in Set Two. The following 10-point tiebreak went back and forth, but the junior transfer was victorious, claiming the 13-11 breaker.

MATCH TWO:

In one of the many first accomplished in the nightcap of Saturday’s doubleheader, Badenhorst and Koenig wasted no time finding a 6-0 result on Court Two over Brandon Do and Haruki Omori-Cowie. The doubles point was clinched behind a 6-3 effort of Justin Braverman and Frantzen from Martin Garcia-Ripoll and Gustav Hasslegren.

Leading the rest of the rapidly-finishing pack, Badenhorst tallied his first win for Baylor in a collegiate singles match with a quick, 6-1, 6-1, result.

Going back-to-back, Miladinović and Velcz picked singles wins before Bowden scored his first point in a 6-2, 6-2 match win over Joan Crespo on Court Five. Redshirt freshman Zamani brought home his first career win, rolling over Stefano Chappuis, 6-0, 6-4. The final point of the night came from the sophomore out of South Africa, Koenig, as he took Do to a 6-2, 6-0 win.

HIGHLIGHTS

  *   BU is 18-1 in season openers since the 2004 national championship team.
  *   Saturday’s 2-0 start is the 18th for Baylor men’s tennis since 2000.
  *   Baylor is 2-0 when winning the doubles point.

STAT OF THE MATCH

7 – Number of first-time Baylor dual match wins on Saturday (two doubles, five singles)

WHAT THEY SAID

Head coach Michael Woodson

On the team in the first two matches…

“It was good overall. It’s always great to kick off the season and get an opportunity to compete again, together against other people. We were a little nervous at the beginning in the singles of the first match. I have to give Abilene a ton of credit. Juan (Nunez) is doing a great job. We had a bunch of guys that are playing their first dual match here for us. They showed that a little bit, but we were able to get through many of the matches in the first. We looked really sharp in the second match and were very comfortable.”

On the newcomers in their first matches…

Devin (Badenhorst) and Zsombor (Velcz) did a really nice job. Louis (Bowden) was able to rebound and I thought he played a much better match this evening than he did in the first match, which is natural for a freshman. It was great to see a lot of guys get their first win for Baylor and (we’re) excited to build on this one. Arman (Zamani) and Martin (Breysach) had been sitting for a while and watching. That’s a great thing to have the experience of seeing it, but it almost builds more than a guy like Devin who just got here and doesn’t know what’s going on really and can just play. I felt really good about what Arman and Martin did. They were able to play well at the beginning and start fast and then do a really good job at closing out their matches. Guys like Oskar (Brostrom Poulsen), just the way he competes, and Louis again, finding ways to win was really impressive.”

UP NEXT

Baylor hits the road for the first two of four total matches to be played in Arizona during the month of January. The Bears face off against Arizona State on Thursday, Jan. 18th, and Arizona on Sunday, Jan. 21st.

For the latest news on the Baylor men’s tennis team all year long, follow its official Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts: @BaylorMTennis.

- BaylorBears.com –

_________________________________________
Colin Pirtle | Associate Director of Athletics Communications (T&F/XC, MTEN, FB)
Department of Athletics | Baylor University
C: 940-564-0351

[signature_2230589939]<http://baylorbears.com/>

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