BOX SCORE SEASON STATS GRANT CHEN POSTGAME THOUGHTS
SMU men's tennis swept UT Arlington, 4-0, on Monday afternoon at the SMU Tennis Complex.
The Mustangs pulled out a victory against the Mavericks fighting through close singles play that featured four third sets.
Liam Krall's come-from-behind three-set win on court two clinched the victory for the Mustangs, giving SMU it's third-straight win.
Early on, the Mustangs had to fight through a doubles point that went down to the wire. Krall and
Julian Steinhausen were 6-3 winners on court for their team-leading fifth win. On court three, playing together for the first time,
Clarke Wilson and
Jordi Redelijk dropped the match, 6-3, putting the focus on line one.
On line one,
Tomas Vaise and
Juan Jose Bianchi were forced into a tiebreaker by the Mavericks. After facing an early deficit, the Mustang duo pulled together a 7-5 tiebreaker victory to send SMU up 1-0.
During singles, the Mavericks held momentum for the early portion by winning four of the six first sets.
Caleb Chakravarthi and Wilson were the lone Mustang first set winners. Wilson would cruise in the second set as well to finish a 6-0, 6-1 win while Chakravarthi was a 6-4, 6-3 winner on court one.
With the Mustangs up 3-0 but trailing on the final four courts, SMU desperately needed a second set victory. All four Mustangs delivered, winning every second set and putting the pressure back on the Mavericks.
Krall finished off his 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 win, his eighth of the season, clinching and ending the match.
At the time of clinch, Redelijk was within striking distance of his match, 3-6, 6-3, 5-2 on court five. Steinhausen had a third-set edge on court four and Vaise was just getting started with his third set.
With the win, the Mustangs improve to 9-6 on the season, the most wins in the American Athletic Conference. They also move to 7-1 at home.
Next up, SMU hosts a doubleheader with the Tulane and Oral Roberts coming to the SMU Tennis Complex on Saturday (March 6).
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