If you didn’t know that the 57th ranked SMU men’s team was playing No. 29 TCU Tuesday, all you had to do was get anywhere near the Haggar Tennis stadium and it would have been obvious that something was going on.
An exceptionally large and vocal crowd of spectators, including the entire men’s swim team, turned out to watch the rivals battle it out on SMU’s home turf. This was the 50th matchup between SMU and TCU, and the 26th time SMU has won, this time by a score of 4-3. The victory capped a TCU winning streak and kept the Mustangs undefeated at home.
In doubles, David Kuczer and Alex Skrypko fell to TCU at the No. 1 position, but both the No. 2 and No. 3 SMU teams fought hard for their victories.
The match of the day was definitely the contest at No. 2 between SMU’s Peter Oredsson and Olivind Alver and TCU’s Freitas and Brink. SMU was up 5-1 until the very end of the match when TCU pulled ahead 7-6. The match then went into a tie breaker. Alver, usually the less consistant player, stepped up and made beautiful shots to help SMU clinch the win. The net play throughout the match was strong, but SMU utilized the lob shot more effectively in the win.
The singles matches were equally intense. SMU went up early in all of the first sets, getting the crowd behind them. TCU players found their rhythm early in the round of second sets and began to exert serious effort.
At No. 1, Peter Oredsson took the first set against Rafeal Abreu 6-3. Roles were reversed in the second set after a call went against SMU and visibly irked Oredsson, as well as head coach Carl Neufeld. Ordesson fought to the bitter end, but lost 6-3, 3-6, 4-6 in a match lasting over two hours.
Federico Murgier, SMU’s No. 2 singles player, had another rollercoaster of a match. He could not stay consistent in any aspect of his game. In the first set, Murgier came out strong, serving well and moving gracefully all over the court. Towards the end of the first set he made numerous errors and ended up losing 7-5. Murgier could not regain his rhythm and fell to Andrei Mlendea 5-7, 3-6.
A small lineup change put David Kuczer at the No. 4 spot, where he played one of his best matches of the season. Kuczer ran all over the court, chasing down almost every ball. His serve was strong and consistent, while his shots from both the baseline and net were powerful and often creative. The end of the match came when Freitas hit a groundstroke wide; Kuczer closed the match with a loud “Go Mustangs!” and an energetic fist pump that drew laughs and cheers from the crowd.
Henrik Soderberg moved to the No. 5 position where he took on Radu Barbu and lost in straight sets.
The deciding match was at the No. 3 position between SMU’s Alex Skrypko and TCU’s Jacopo Tezza. The two setter out-lasted all the others in a battle on the far court. Skrypko ended the match winning three straight games and delivering four punishing first serves in the final game.
Coach Neufeld couldn’t say enough positive things about his players.
“It was great tennis. Whenever we play TCU, it’s always a hard fought match. I was really proud of the guys for hanging in there,” he said.
“I always hope we will be playing our best tennis at the end of the year,” Neufeld said. So far, so good. The men will face Norte Dame in Indiana on Saturday April 8.
