| Mavs gain few match wins in tennis season opener |
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| Written by Will Doan, The Shorthorn staff | ||||
| Monday, 25 January 2010 09:53 PM | ||||
 International business sophomore Adam Srkala plays a one-on-one match against TCU at the Tennis Courts Sunday afternoon. Srkala won the singles match gaining one point for the team and making the final score 2-5 in TCU's favor. (The Shorthorn: Aisha Butt) The women’s team traveled to Lubbock to face the Red Raiders on Friday and dropped a 2-4 decision. Sophomores Maria Martinez-Romero and Katarina Mlcochova were the only Mavs to win their matches. Senior Klara Jagosova lost 5-7, 4-6. Junior Monika Hadvigerova lost 1-6, 1-6 to No. 18 ranked Elizabeth Ullathorne, according to ITA D1 rankings. Sophomore Nikola Matovicova lost 4-6, 1-6. The women’s team competed with only five players as junior Daiana Negreanu was out with an injury. “It’s always difficult to play with five,” assistant coach Marco Matteucci said. “The girls are good and can always compete. We played some ranked players and they were good.” On Saturday the women dropped a 1-4 decision against New Mexico. Matteucci said the Mavs played in bad conditions. “It was so cold and windy we had to stop play,” Matteucci said. “When we moved indoors, we were unlucky and couldn’t get anything to go.” The women lost all three matches in doubles and Mlcochova was the only Mav to record a win in singles competition with a score of 7-6, 6-1. Martinez-Romero and Matovicova’s matches went unfinished against the Lobos. The men’s tennis season began on Sunday as they battled No. 38 ranked Texas Christian University. The Mavs, however, were unable to beat the Horned Frogs as they lost 2-5. Senior captain Dmitry Minkin and sophomore Adam Srkala were the only two players to record victories for the Mavs. Minkin and sophomore Mindaugas Celedinas also lost in doubles competition, 7-9 to TCU’s Paul Chappell and Marius-Adrian Cirstea. The second pairing of Srkala and freshman Yauheni Yakauleu battled to a 4-8 loss to Zach Nichols and Christopher Price. The pairing of junior Brieuc Hamon and freshman Giacomo Sano had a 3-1 lead against TCU’s Slah Mbarek and Cameron Nash. Sano and Hamon made too many mistakes and TCU capitalized on them, head coach Diego Benitez said. “We didn’t take care of the little details,” Benitez said. Minkin faced Cirstea in singles and doubles competitions. After dropping the first set 3-6, Minkin won the next two sets, 6-3 and 6-2. “He had a rough time with the windy conditions,” Benitez said. “After he settled down, he blocked everything from his mind and focused on the match.” Celedinas dropped a 2-6, 3-6 decision against Mburek, and Hamon dropped a 4-6, 1-6 decision against Nichols. Srkala’s victory was hard-fought. Srkala muttered to himself, “I’ve got no rhythm, I got nothing,” in the first game.Srkala lost the first set 6-7, but then gained momentum against Chappell. “The tiebreaker can go either way,” Benitez said. “When he lost it, he never gave up. From there, he took control of the game.” With the fans and teammates cheering, “Papa,” he won the next two sets 6-4 and 10-6. “I started to play more relaxed,” Srkala said. “I was a little bit tight the first set. You wanna do your best against TCU.” Benitez said newcomers Yakauleu and Sano showed potential. Yakauleu was matched up against Price but fell in two sets, 5-7 and 4-6. Sano dropped the first set of his match against Kelubia Mabatah, 1-6. After a quick break, Benitez told him to play like he does in practice. Sano won the second set 6-3, but dropped the third set 3-6. This is the first of five home games for the Mavs. The men’s next game will be Feb. 11, against Centenary at 10 a.m. and Cameron at 1 p.m. The women’s next scheduled match is on Feb. 5, in Richmond, Va., against the Richmond Spiders. Views: 649 | E-mail
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| Last Updated ( Tuesday, 26 January 2010 08:59 AM ) | ||||
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