SEATTLE – Oregon snapped a five-match Husky series win streak today with a 4-2 victory over the Dawgs at the Nordstrom Tennis Center. Washington (10-5, 1-1 Pac-12) got singles wins from Han-Chih Lin and Cesar Bouchelaghem but settled for a season split in the rivalry. The Ducks (12-7, 1-1 Pac-12) got revenge for a 4-3 UW win in Eugene earlier this year, and got the Pac-12 counter.
“There’s no easy matches out there, and I hope people say that about us as well,” said Head Coach Rahim Esmail. “We’re going to compete hard, and honestly they just competed harder than we did today. The last time we played them we played with that attitude and we were on top. Today, they played with something to prove and were a little hungrier and had more energy. That’s the way it went today, and our guys didn’t compete poorly, we just didn’t raise our level the way we needed to today.”
The Huskies came up just short in the doubles point, as the Ducks won a decisive tiebreaker on the top court to clinch the point and take some momentum into singles. Brett Pearson and Nedim Suko had a 6-3 win at No. 2 doubles but Jim Hendrikx and Han-Chih Lin fell, 1-6, at No. 3 doubles. It came down to Bouchelaghem and Dzianis Zharyn against 14th-ranked Joshua Charlton and Quinn Vandecasteele. The teams kept holding serve until reaching a tiebreak, but the Ducks duo took it, 7-4.
Lin got the first big singles point for the Huskies with a 7-5, 6-1 upset of 106th-ranked Charlton at the No. 1 spot. That was his second win this year over Charlton after Lin clinched the victory in the first meeting.
?? Hans puts the Dawgs on the board on the top court!! ??
Takes down 106th-ranked Charlton for the second time this season
UW – 1; UO – 1#GoHuskies pic.twitter.com/XR1Acaiuhi
— Washington Men’s Tennis (@UW_MTennis) April 1, 2023
Bouchelaghem also rolled in his first set, but the Huskies regretted some missed opportunities at No. 2 and No. 4, where Zharyn and Nedim Suko both served for their first sets, and had set point chances, but both got broken and eventually dropped those sets as Oregon won four first sets total to stay in front.
“We weren’t able to capitalize and that makes a big difference,” said Esmail. “You win one of those sets and it can go a different way.”
Bouchelaghem would get forced to a third set at No. 3 singles, but then he dominated in the third to finish a 6-2, 1-6, 6-1 win over Ivailo Keremedchiev. That puts the 102nd-ranked sophomore at 15-0 in dual…
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