EUGENE, Ore. – Washington earned its first true road win of the season in thrilling fashion over the rival Ducks today, as junior Han-Chih Lin posted a 6-4, 7-5 win at No. 1 singles to break the 3-3 tie. It’s the fifth-straight win for the Huskies (5-3) over Oregon (6-2) and second in a row in Eugene.
Washington started out the match with a doubles point win that was no less dramatic than Lin’s final singles win. Lin and Jim Hendrikx had a 6-4 win at No. 3 doubles to even the point after Oregon had posted a 6-0 win at No. 2. That left it to the No. 1 match, where Cesar Bouchelaghem and Dzianis Zharyn went into a tiebreak against 10th-ranked Charlton/Vandecasteele. Zharyn played a great return point to get the Huskies a match point at 6-5, and then Bouchelaghem served an ace to win it, 7-5, and clinch the first point.
In singles, the teams would split the six first sets, and players that took the one set leads proceeded to close things out in the second. Bouchelaghem got the first win, defeating Ivailo Keremedchiev, 6-4, 6-3, at No. 3 singles. Freshman Brett Pearson then had a 6-4, 6-4 win at No. 6 singles over Ray Lo. But a split second later, Oregon was on the board as Quinn Vandecasteele pulled out a second set tiebreak to defeat Zharyn, 6-3, 7-6 (6) at No. 2 singles.
Oregon would then wrap up straight set wins at the four and five spots to tie the match at 3-3. Jesper Klov-Nilsson defeated Nedim Suko, 6-3, 6-3, at No. 4, and Vlad Breazu stopped Hendrikx, 6-2, 6-4, at No. 5 singles.
That left it to the top match, where Lin had taken the first set, 6-4, over All-Pac-12 player Joshua Charlton. Charlton then took the first three games of set two, and had a 4-1 lead, as it looked headed for a third set. But Lin kept working, getting a break back to pull within 3-4. He tied it up at 5-all, and then broke Charlton on a deciding point for a 6-5 lead. Lin was able to serve it out in the next game as he was swarmed by his teammates.
Washington will look to carry today’s momentum back onto its home courts this Sunday, when UNLV comes into the Nordstrom Tennis Center for an 11 a.m. match. The Huskies will see Oregon a second time, for the Pac-12 conference counter, on Apr. 1 in Seattle.
Washington Men’s Tennis
February 17, 2023
Eugene, Ore. | Student Tennis Center
Washington – 4
Oregon – 3
Singles
1. Han-Chih Lin (UW) def. Joshua Charlton (Ore) – 6-4, 7-5
2. Quinn Vandecasteele (Ore) def. Dzianis Zharyn (UW) – 6-3,…
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