Huskies Turn Back Badgers With Five Singles Wins

SEATTLE – The Husky men's tennis team had a rude awakening to an early Sunday morning start today, dropping a heartbreaker of a doubles point to start their 9 a.m. match with visiting Wisconsin, but Washington then steadily took control in singles and got five wins to secure a 5-2 victory over the Big Ten squad. The Huskies (9-3) will now head out on the road for the next month, and open Pac-12 play next week at Oregon.
 
Head Coach Matt Anger thought the Huskies came out well in doubles but were unable to sustain it. But singles was a different story.
 
"I was very happy we came out strong in singles," Anger said. "I think we were strong throughout. I was very happy and impressed with the fan turnout we had today for a 9 a.m. Sunday morning match. I think people know they're going to see good tennis with our team. There's a confidence building throughout our program, but now it's on us to take our program on the road and have the same toughness and compete as well on the road."
 
Down 0-1 after doubles, freshman Nedim Suko put the Huskies on the board first with a 6-3, 6-0 win at No. 6 singles over Daniel Nuzhny.
 
At No. 1 singles, Clement Chidekh played his first match as the No. 1-ranked singles player in the nation, and he handled the target on his back with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Jared Pratt, to make it 2-1 Huskies.
 
At No. 2, 66th-ranked Ewen Lumsden won the first set, 6-0, and was up a break in set two before Lenard Soha broke back to get even at 3-3. But Lumsden then answered back with three straight games to end it, 6-3.
 
The clinching point came from Han-Chih Lin at No. 4 singles. He was down a break in the first set but then roared back to win it, 6-4, and then Lin dominated set two and won, 6-1, over Sebastian Vile.
 
Jack Davis earned a fifth point as he came back from a first set loss and won a third set super-tiebreak to beat Robin Parts, 1-6, 6-4, (10-8). Freshman Cesar Bouchelaghem lost for the first time in a close 7-6 (5), 6-4 match at No. 5.
 
Doubles was an hour's worth of drama but ultimately went to the visitors. At No. 2 doubles, 36th-ranked Chidekh and Suko won the first two games, then lost four in a row, but then came back to win four in a row for a 6-4 win. At No. 3, Bouchelaghem and Lumsden were down 2-4, broke back and got even at 4-4, but then Wisconsin's Pratt/Nuzhny broke serve at 4-5 to win and even it at a match apiece. In the No. 1 match, Davis and Brandon Wong had two match points on Wisconsin's serve at 6-5, but the Badgers saved them to force a tiebreak. The Huskies then dropped the breaker, 2-7, as the Badgers took the 1-0 lead.
 
Washington now heads on the road for all of March, starting next Saturday, Mar. 5, with a 2 p.m. dual at Oregon in the first Pac-12 counting match of the year.
 
 
Washington Men's Tennis
February 27, 2022
Nordstrom Tennis Center | Seattle, Wash.
 
Washington – 5
Wisconsin – 2
 
Singles
1. (#1) Clement Chidekh (UW) def. Jared Pratt (Wisc) – 6-4, 6-1
2. (#66) Ewen Lumsden (UW) def. Lenard Soha (Wisc) – 6-0, 6-3
3. Jack Davis (UW) def. Robin Parts (Wisc) – 1-6, 6-4, (10-8)
4. Han-Chih Lin (UW) def. Sebastian Vile (Wisc) – 6-4, 6-1
5. Tim Dzhurinskiy (Wisc) def. Cesar Bouchelaghem (UW) – 7-6 (5), 6-4
6. Nedim Suko (UW) def. Daniel Nuzhny (Wisc) – 6-3, 6-0
Order of Finish: 6, 1, 2, 4, 3, 5
 
Doubles
1. Vile/Parts (Wisc) def. Davis/Wong (UW) – 7-6 (2)
2. (#36) Chidekh/Suko (UW) def. Soha/Dzhurinskiy (Wisc) – 6-4
3. Pratt/Nuzhny (Wisc) def. Bouchelaghem/Lumsden (UW) – 6-4
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1