Huskies Hold Off Ducks To Make Pac-12 Quarterfinal

Pac-12 Championships
Apr. 20-23, Ojai, Calif.
Libbey Park

Wednesday, Apr. 20 - First Round
(8) Washington def. (9) Oregon, 4-2

Thursday, Apr. 20 - Quarterfinal
(8) Washington vs. (1) Arizona, 12 p.m. | Live Scoring | No video coverage until Pac-12 final

OJAI, Calif. – One of the oldest adages in sports claims its hard to beat a good team three times, and it was hard for the Huskies today, but they got win No. 3 this season against 48th-ranked Oregon to keep their season going at the Pac-12 Tennis Championships. Washington outlasted the Ducks, 4-2, at Libbey Park in Ojai thanks to three-straight third set wins from Clement Chidekh, Nedim Suko, and Han-Chih Lin.
 
The Huskies now move into the quarterfinals where they will try and topple the No. 1-seed, and regular season Pac-12 Champion, Arizona. The Huskies and Wildcats just met last Sunday in the regular season finale, with U of A earning a 4-1 win in Seattle. The Dawgs will take another shot on Thursday at 12 noon back at Libbey Park.
 
"A very competitive match, the toughest we've had with Oregon this year," said Head Coach Matt Anger. "We were able to win once in Eugene when we didn't have a full lineup, but we had a full lineup today and it took everything and it was a battle to the last point."
 
Coach Anger knows the Huskies will be up for Thursday's challenge. "I really am excited. We just played them at home, so we have no excuse, they were the better team, but I'm still really eager to go play this match. I think even though we're now at a neutral site, I think we can do a better job and there are going to be some tough matches out here."
 
Five of the six singles matches went three sets today. The match was tied up at 2-2 with the Nos. 4, 5, and 6 singles matches all in the early stages of set three, and each team needing two of those three sets.
 
Freshman Nedim Suko got the big win on court six to make it 3-2 Dawgs. He came from a set down to beat Ryoma Matsushita, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
 
Then Han-Chih Lin came through on court four with nearly a carbon copy of Suko's score. He lost set one to Jesper Klov-Nilsson, 3-6, but then won the second set, 6-3, and finished it off with a 6-4 third set win. Cesar Bouchelaghem was at a deciding point trailing 4-5 in his third set against Luke Vandecasteele at No. 5 singles when Lin clinched and play was stopped.
 
"Our freshmen (Cesar and Nedim) really did a good job competing well," said Anger "The five and six courts are apart from the other four. So they're over there together battling hard. Great to have Nedim come through today."
 
Sixth-ranked Clement Chidekh also earned his third win of the season against Oregon's talented No. 1 Joshua Charlton. Chidekh raced to a 6-0 first set win but Charlton dug in to take set two into a tiebreak, and he pulled it out to force a third. But Chidekh ran away again in the third, 6-1, for the point that made it 2-2.
 
Oregon had a three set win on court two, where Quinn Vandecasteele came back to beat Jack Davis, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Ewen Lumsden lost a 6-3, 6-4 match to Ivailo Keremedchiev.
 
UW took the early lead thanks to a doubles point win, with wins coming at No. 2 and No. 3. Bouchelaghem and Lin had a 6-2 win over L. Vandecasteele and Youssef Kadiri at the third spot. Chidekh and Suko then secured the point with a 6-3 win over Keremedchiev/Klov-Nilsson at No. 2.
 
 
Washington Men's Tennis
Pac-12 Championships – First Round
April 20, 2022
Libbey Park | Ojai, Calif.
 
#53 (8-seed) Washington – 4
#48 (9-seed) Oregon – 2
 
Singles
1. (#6) Clement Chidekh (UW) def. (#92) Joshua Charlton (Ore) – 6-0, 6-7 (5), 6-1
2. Quinn Vandecasteele (Ore) def. Jack Davis (UW) – 3-6, 6-2, 6-4
3. Ivailo Keremedchiev (Ore) def. Ewen Lumsden (UW) – 6-3, 6-4
4. Han-Chih Lin (UW) def. Jesper Klov-Nilsson (Ore) – 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
5. Cesar Bouchelaghem (UW) vs. Luke Vandecasteele (Ore) – 6-3, 6-7 (6), 4-5, DNF
6. Nedim Suko (UW) def. Ryoma Matsushita (Ore) – 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1, 6, 4
 
Doubles
1. (#33) Davis/Lumsden (UW) vs. (#16) Charlton/Q. Vandecasteele (Ore) – 3-5, DNF
2. Chidekh/Suko (UW) def. Klov-Nilsson/Keremedchiev (Ore) – 6-3
3. Bouchelaghem/Lin (UW) def. L. Vandecasteele/Kadiri (Ore) – 6-2
Order of Finish: 3, 2