The SMU men’s tennis team defeated the University of Illinois-Chicago in a clean sweep on Tuesday at the Bent Tree Country Club. The Mustangs won every match, including doubles, making the final score 7-0. The win advances SMU to 9-8 for the season.
The Mustangs started off the win by taking the doubles point with victories at No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3. Alex Skrypko and Federico Murgier beat UIC’s Eric Fey and Andy Lockhart 8-2 at No. 1, while Adolfo Solares and Chris Hooshyar defeated Sebastian Lystad and Sam Sweeney at No. 3
Bastian Harbo and Adriano Liccardo handed Oivind Alver and Robin Faghen their eighth doubles victory of the season at No. 2.
No. 67 Skrypko won in straight sets at No. 1 over Liccardo 6-0, 6-3. Teammate David Kuczer defended the No. 2 position for a second straight week, earning a victory over Lystad 6-4, 6-2.
Murgier and Hooshyar each went beyond two sets with their opponents but were able to pull out wins. Murgier played No. 3 and defeated Harbo in a second-set tiebreaker, 5-7, 6-3 (10-1). Hooshyar’s match at No. 6 took three sets to eliminate Sweeney, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2.
Alver and Faghen also took victories at No. 4 and No. 5 singles. At No. 4, Alver went to three sets with opponent Fey. After he dropped the first set 3-6, Alver powered past Fey 6-0, 6-1. Faghen, who holds the best singles record on the squad, earned his 10th singles win of the season, defeating Lockhart in straight sets 6-2, 6-1.
The Mustangs return to action Saturday with another double-header. SMU hosts both the University of Arkansas-Little Rock and Prairie View A&M at the Bent Tree Country Club, beginning at 1 p.m