BOX SCORE  SEASON STATS  CHEN POSTGAME



DALLAS (SMU) - SMU men's tennis came back to defeat UTSA, 5-2, on Sunday at the SMU Tennis Complex.
 
Returning to their home court for the first time in a month, the Mustangs took down the Roadrunners behind strong singles play, winning five of six courts and just dropping one set. The Mustangs improved to 8-6 on the season including 6-1 at home.
 
UTSA got on the board first with a victory in doubles. The Mustang freshman duo of Liam Krall and Julian Steinhausen improved to 4-3 on the season with a 6-2 win on court one though UTSA followed that with a 6-2 win of their own on court one over Tomas Vaise and Juan Jose Bianchi. With the point coming down to a tight match on court three, the Roadrunners won the final two games against Caleb Chakravarthi and Callaway Clark completing the 6-4 win and moving ahead 1-0 in the match.
 
The Mustangs regained momentum with strong first sets across their singles courts, winning five of six. Krall put the Mustangs on the board as he won handedly on court two, 6-1, 6-3. The victory gave the freshman six consecutive wins. Steinhausen made quick work of his match on court four with a 6-1, 6-4 victory, his team-high ninth win of the season.
 
Clarke Wilson, working on court five, sent the Mustangs ahead, 3-1, thanks to a 6-3, 6-4 victory. Vaise put the Mustangs in the win column with a 7-5, 6-2 win on court three, his fifth straight. 
 
Chakravarthi won a lengthy first set, 7-6, with a 7-4 victory in the tiebreaker. The senior captain resigned with a 1-0 lead in the second putting the score a 4-2.
 
On the final court, Jordi Redelijk battled from an early 0-2 hole to play a competitive first set but lost it  7-5. In the second, he fought his way into a tiebreaker where he evened the match, 7-2. In the third set supertiebreaker, Redelijk trailed early but rallied for a 11-9 win, finishing off the 5-2 SMU victory.

With the win, the Mustangs started off their six-game homestand on the right the note looking forward to a busy week ahead containing three more home matches. The Mustangs return to the court on Monday for a 1 p.m. matchup with the Mavericks of UT Arlington.