Huskies Drop Tough 4-3 Decision In First Road Match

TULSA, Okla. – Washington men's tennis got its first taste in a long time of some road match intensity, and came up just barely on the short end today as Tulsa won the final two singles matches in third sets to hold off the Huskies, 4-3, at Tulsa's Case Tennis Center. The Huskies got a big win from sophomore Clement Chidekh at No. 1 over his first ranked opponent, and Han-Chih Lin and Ewen Lumsden also scored points in singles.
 
"We are really happy to be playing these matches again but I don't miss this feeling of a very tough loss on the road today," said Head Coach Matt Anger.
 
"I think there were a couple things, the doubles we really did not start well. I think we were on our heels and hopefully we learn our lesson on that. In singles, we cannot ever take our foot off the gas, and you certainly cannot do that on the road. Not that we were way ahead but we won five first sets and you start looking around and we really let all of their guys back in in those second sets. Got to make sure we don't let that happen."
 
UW found itself trailing after dropping the doubles point. Tulsa got wins first at No. 3, with their duo of Siddal/Santalla defeating Ewen Lumsden and Adam Torocsik, 6-1. An early break at No. 1 was the difference as 29th-ranked Pearson/Di Marco held off UW's Jack Davis and Alexis Alvarez, 6-4. With the point decided Chidekh and Thibault Cancel went to a tiebreak at 5-5 in the No. 2 match, and won it, 7-4.
 
The Dawgs put themselves in a great position early in singles, taking five of the six first sets. Chidekh, in his first big test as a collegiate tennis player, came through impressively, as he was a 6-2, 6-4 winner over 67th-ranked Kody Pearson in the No. 1 position. Then Lin, a freshman, grabbed a 6-4, 6-4 win over Stefan Hampe at No. 4 singles to go to 3-0 in his young career. Moments later, however, Tulsa earned a 6-4, 6-4 win at No. 6 against Jack Pulliam to level things at 2-2.
 
"The new guys had a super day," said Anger. "Clement defeated a ranked player at number one, Hans had a straight set win as well so certainly there were no growing pains for our youth."
 
The remaining three singles matches all went into third sets, and two quickly went in opposite directions. At the No. 3 position, Lumsden broke early and ran away with his third set to close out Connor Di Marco, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, and put UW into the lead. However, Thibault Cancel fell behind early in his third set at No. 5, dropping it by a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 count for 3-3.
 
That left things to the No. 2 match, where Jack Davis had won the first set in a tiebeaker, but lost the second set, 2-6. Davis and Ezequiel Santana were on serve at 3-3 in the third, but Santana then held and broke in the next game, and was able to then serve it out for the 6-7, 6-2, 6-3 win.
 
Washington will have another test tomorrow, as it heads over to Fayetteville to take on Arkansas in another 1 p.m. Pacific time start.
 
Washington Men's Tennis
February 5, 2021
Case Tennis Center | Tulsa, Okla.
 
Washington – 3
Tulsa – 4
 
Singles
1. Clement Chidekh (UW) def. (#67) Kody Pearson (Tulsa), 6-2, 6-4
2. Ezequiel Santalla (Tulsa) def. (#65) Jack Davis (UW), 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-3
3. Ewen Lumsden (UW) def. Connor Di Marco (Tulsa), 6-4, 3-6, 6-1
4. Han-Chih Lin (UW) def. Stefan Hampe (Tulsa), 6-4 6-4
5. Juan Pablo Cenoz (Tulsa) def. Thibault Cancel (UW), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
6. Daniel Siddall (Tulsa) def. Jack Pulliam (UW), 6-4, 6-4
Order of finish: 1, 4, 6, 3, 5, 2
 
Doubles
1. (#29) Pearson/Di Marco (Tulsa) def. Davis/Alexis Alvarez (UW) 6-4
2. Cancel/Chidekh (UW) def. Boriss Kamdem/Tom Thelwall-Jones (Tulsa), 6-5 (4)
3. Siddall/Santalla (Tulsa) def. Lumsden/Adam Torocsik (UW), 6-1
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2