SEATTLE – Washington Men’s Tennis got a win in its first Pac-12 match, plus its first ranked win of the year, in a 4-3 slugfest against 31st-ranked Utah. The Utes (16-3, 1-1 Pac-12) had won fourteen matches in a row and had not lost in nearly two months but the Huskies (10-4, 1-0 Pac-12) ended that streak today at the Nordstrom Tennis Center.
Sophomore Nedim Suko came up with the huge final point with the dual tied at 3-3 and all the players and fans crowded around court four. Locked in a third set against Bruno Caula, even at 4-4, Suko had a tough service hold to take a 5-4 lead. He then broke Caula, winning on his second match point after a long rally by smashing a winner after Caula had just barely got a Suko passing shot back over the net. Suko fell on his back as the Dawgs piled on him.
??NEDIM DOES IT??
Dawgs knock off the 31st-ranked Utes????#GoHuskies pic.twitter.com/R9dyd74gaA
— Washington Men’s Tennis (@UW_MTennis) March 26, 2023
“It was definitely a hard-earned win and we knew it would be going into it,” said first year Head Coach Rahim Esmail, who got his first Pac-12 victory today as well. “We’ve trained for days like this and prepared ourselves that every day is going to be a battle. I’m just proud of the way our guys competed. Utah is very good and competes super hard. It was an extremely competitive match.”
The Utes had won the past two meetings in the series and were coming off an upset over then-No. 7 Harvard, as well as a conference win at Oregon on Friday. But a Husky doubles point win followed by singles victories from Dzianis Zharyn, Cesar Bouchelaghem, and Suko, added up to the Husky win.
In doubles, Bouchelaghem and Zharyn broke serve for a 5-3 lead and then served out an upset over the 26th-ranked duo of Trhac/Bugarikj at the No. 1 spot. Then Han-Chih Lin and Jim Hendrikx clinched the point with a matching 6-3 win at No. 3 doubles over Bastias/Caula.
Dawgs Clinch Doubles!!
Hans and Jim break for the 6-3 win on 3?? moments after Cesar and Denis earned a 6-3 win on 1??
Denis and Cesar beat the No. 26 doubles duo ??#GoHuskies pic.twitter.com/uOnzk7Zgfr
— Washington Men’s Tennis (@UW_MTennis) March 26, 2023
Bouchelaghem and Zharyn both looked to have their singles matches easily in hand, but Utah rallied on both courts to make the Huskies have to dig in. Zharyn was up a set and 5-1 at No. 2 singles over 85th-ranked Franco Capalbo, but Capalbo won four games in a row to tie it at 5-5. Zharyn won a deciding…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at University of Washington Athletics…