Featured photo by Brett Walker
Story by Brett Walker
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MURFREESBORO, Tenn- Middle Tennessee men’s tennis (14-8) fell 4-1 at the hands of No. 21 Oklahoma (12-2) on Friday at the MTSU Tennis Complex.
Friday’s matchup was grueling for both teams. The match was a back-and-forth affair in which Oklahoma was ultimately able to emerge victorious.
Oklahoma was able to snag the first win of the day as Alex Martinez/Baptiste Anselmo defeated Leo Raquin/Ondrej Horak by a score of 6-3. MTSU’s hopes of winning the doubles point were salvaged by the pairing of Javier Cueto Ramos/Marcel Kamrowski when they defeated Mark Mandlik/Jordan Hasson 6-4. With the doubles point hanging in the balance, the Blue Raiders were forced to rely on Shu Matsuoka/ Igor Mandou Berranger as they faced off against Hank Trondson/Asahi Harazaki.
“In doubles we were actually, very, very solid from the beginning,” Matsuoka said. “We were very concentrated, and we were serving very good. That was the main point that we were holding our serve up a break.”
Despite a solid start against the Sooners, the doubles game quickly unraveled for Matsuoka and Berranger behind a slew of critical errors. The duo was unable to clinch the doubles point as they lost 7-6 (2), which proved to be detrimental to MTSU.
“For example, there was a second serve that I hit to the opponents forehand, when it was their weapon,” Matsuoka said. “Those little things made a difference in the match.”
With the doubles point awarded to the Sooners, the Blue Raiders were never in a position to gain control of the match. In singles, Horak was the first domino to fall, losing 6-4, 6-4 to Hasson. Shortly thereafter, Demis Taramonlis also lost 6-4, 6-4, as he was defeated by Justin Schlageter.
Matsuoka finished the match as the lone Blue Raider in the win column. The sophomore defeated Mark Mandlik 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. The Japan native felt that his play was better in tense moments in singles than it was in the earlier doubles, but there are still areas in which he must improve.
“The serving wasn’t beautiful today but, I managed to hold my serve in a lot of difficult deuce points in the match,” Matsuoka said. “I held with high percentage first serve, when it comes to those important points. I feel like that’s something that made me win the match, but there’s so many things that I have to improve in.”
Matsuoka’s win seemed to bring the overall score seemed to breathe life into MTSU. Several Blue Raiders survived deuce match points as they continued to battle. Associate head coach Andrea Caligiana was proud of the team’s fight, but ultimately fixated on wasted opportunities.
“It was nice to see the guys coming back after the match wasn’t looking great at some point, but we actually had a lot of leads in my opinion,” Caligiana said. “In doubles we were up a break and serving for the match. We didn’t take advantage of that, and we lost doubles.”
Caligiana was disappointed in the abundance of missed opportunities but urges his team to just do everything right as they prepare for a trip to Dallas to play SMU on Sunday.
“Do any kind of rehab and treatments that they need to do,” Caligiana said. “Get a good meal, go to bed early, and then tomorrow get a good practice. There’s no secret weapon.”
Brett Walker is a sportswriter for MTSU Sidelines. For more news, visit www.mtsusidelines.com, and follow us on Facebook at MTSU Sidelines and on X and Instagram at @mtsusidelines. Also, sign up for our weekly newsletter here.
