Utah Tennis Wins 4-3 Thriller Over Washington Friday Night

SEATTLE – After needing to win all four matches that went to a third set to complete the comeback, the Utah men's tennis team rallied for a 4-3 road win in a thriller over Washington Friday night in Seattle. The Utes trailed 0-3, but went on to have just enough in the tank to leave town with their first Pac-12 win of the season.

Utah fell in a 1-0 deficit early on after falling in doubles play. Washington took the top two courts 6-2 and 6-3, respectively, to earn the point.

The Utes found themselves in a deeper hole at the start of singles after Washington's No. 1 player downed Slava Shainyan, which was followed by a win on court three by the Huskies' Lumsden over Geronimo Busleiman in a match that went back-and-forth and ended with a score of 6-4, 6-4.

Utah needed to pick up the remaining courts to complete the comeback as all courts were sent to a third set almost simultaneously. Krenn fell in his first set, but battled for a 7-5 victory in the second set. After his third set was tied 5-5, Krenn pulled out the next two games to get Utah on the board with another 7-5 win.

Capalbo traded sets throughout his third set and with no separation, found the match tied 6-6 and headed to a tiebreaker. Capalbo dominated and rattled off seven straight points to take the win over No. 65-ranked Jack Davis 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (0) and trim the lead. Shortly after, Mathias Gavelin found himself in a similar situation and was tied 5-5 in the third set. Gavelin collected the next two games to take the 7-5 win in the third and tie the match to keep the Utah momentum going.

With momentum favored to Utah after winning three straight courts consecutively, the match was left to Francisco Bastias on court four. Bastias dropped his first 6-4, but managed to turn it around and win the next in another tight set, 6-4. It was the same story in the third set where late in the third set Bastias and and Washington's Lin traded sets back and forth until the match was tied 6-6. Bastias went ahead 5-3 and eventually 6-4 in the tiebreaker and ultimately won 7-4 to clinch the match for Utah.

Utah will finish the road trip on Sunday, March 21 in Eugene, Ore., taking on the Oregon Ducks. The Utes and Ducks will go head-to-head at 1 p.m. MT to continue Pac-12 play.

Utah 4, Washington 3
Doubles (1,2)
1. Alvarez/Davis (UW) def. Busleiman/Capalbo (UU), 6-2
2. Chidekh/Cancel (UW) def. Bastias/Shainyan (UU), 6-3
3. Lumsden/Lin (UW) vs. Flores/Krenn (UU), 5-2
 
Singles (1, 3, 6, 2, 5, 4)
1. Clement Chidekh (UW) def. Slava Shainyan (UU), 6-1, 6-4
2. Franco Capalbo (UU) def. #65 Jack Davis (UW), 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (0)
3. Ewen Lumsden (UW) def. Geronimo Busleiman (UU), 4-6, 4-6
4. Francisco Bastias (UU) def. Han-Chih Lin (UW), 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4)
5. Mathias Gavelin (UU) def. Jack Pulliam (UW), 6-3, 5-7, 7-5
6. Bruno Krenn (UU) def. Thibault Cancel (UW), 3-6, 7-5, 7-5