Trojans cruise by Pac-12 opponents
After winning two matches at the Oracle Challenge, the USC men’s tennis squad returned to Marks Stadium this past weekend to take on Pac-12 rivals Washington and Oregon. The Trojans put together two dominating performances for their fans, taking both matches by a score of 6-1.
In Friday’s match against the Washington Huskies, the Trojans lost their only point to the Huskies in doubles play, which has been troublesome for the Trojans this season. Seniors Eric Johnson and Jonny Wang put the Trojans in promising position, scoring a 6-4 victory over the Husky pairing of Joao Barra and Viktor Farkas. The Huskies fought back, notching the doubles score at one apiece, courtesy of a 6-4 victory by Emmett Egger and Jeff Hawke over seniors Yannick Hanfmann and Roberto Quiroz. Washington’s Jake Douglas and Wendell Watanabe beat out junior Max de Vroome and freshman Thibault Forget 7-5 in the deciding match to give the Huskies the doubles point.
The Trojans took control of the match in singles play, taking all six singles matches. Johnson earned the Trojans their first point with a 6-3, 6-2 win against Douglas. Quiroz put the Trojans in the lead a short time later with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Gal Hakak. Hanfmann gave the Trojans their third point on the day by defeating Mitch Stewart in two sets by a score of 7-5, 6-3. Wang lost the first set in his match against Barra 2-6, but Wang rebounded to win sets two and three to clinch both his own match and the overall match for the Trojans. De Vroome and sophomore Rob Bellamy each won their matches in three sets following Wang clinching the match for the Trojans.
After the match against Washington, Bellamy said focus was key after being down 4-1 in the third set.
“I just needed to go like tunnel vision,” Bellamy said. “[I needed to] focus on just myself and my movement of the ball. Every point mattered. Fighting for every point, that was the big thing. [That mindset] needs to be [the team’s mindset] if we want to get this NCAA Championship.”
Bellamy also said there is much he needs to improve on in the future.
“Definitely not paying attention to everyone else’s court,” Bellamy said. “Not looking up at that scoreboard is a big thing. Losing concentration is just the worst thing that happens to me. As soon as I can get that all figured out, hopefully I’ll have some more straight-forward matches.”
The Trojans continued their winning ways the following afternoon in their match against the Oregon Ducks. Like they did against the Huskies, the Trojans struck first in doubles play. The first doubles point for the Trojans came courtesy of Hanfmann and Quiroz, who took down Oregon duo Daan Maasland and Joey Swaysland by a score of 6-4. Then, de Vroome and Forget ensured the doubles point for the Trojans with a 6-4 victory of their own over Brent Chin and Cormac Clissold. Oregon’s Daniel Sardu and Jayson Amos were leading 6-5 against Wang and Johnson before play was suspended.
The Trojans continued their momentum into singles play, claiming victory in five of the six singles matches. De Vroome earned the first singles match point for the Trojans with two 6-4 sets against Amos. After that, sophomore Nick Crystal put the Trojans up 3-0 with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Swaysland. Wang was the next Trojan to finish his singles match, defeating Oregon’s Clissold 6-4, 6-1 and clinching the match for the Trojans for the second straight day. Soon after, Forget gave his team a commanding 5-0 lead with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Chin. Oregon earned their only point of the match in the second to last singles match between Johnson and Maasland, where Maasland took down Johnson in two sets by a score of 7-6 (3), 6-3. Quiroz ended the match on a high note for the Trojans, winning in three hard fought sets over Sardu with a score of 7-5, 6-7 (5), 1-0 (10-3).
Following the game against Oregon, USC men’s tennis coach Peter Smith said he enjoyed watching his team play on Saturday.
“I thought we played a great match today against Oregon,” Smith said. “That was enjoyable to be a part of. We had good energy, better energy then we’ve had. That was a great time for me with the team.”
The Trojans have five matches remaining before the Pac-12 Championship and the NCAA Team and Individual Championships. As a senior, Quiroz is taking in every moment since this is his last season with the team.
“It’s one more month to go for me here,” Quiroz said. “I’m just enjoying it and enjoy being with my teammates. It’s been [an] unbelievable four years [and I’m] definitely going to miss this. I just try to go match-by-match and just enjoy the experience and I enjoy being here.”