Men's Tennis Beats SMU 4-0 to Advance in NCAAs to Face Illinois in Second Round

Friday, May 12

Louisville, Ky.

1:00 PM

University of Louisville

SMU<br>(First Round)

Jakob Gustafsson won singles and doubles to help the Cardinals advance in the NCAA Championship.

Men's Tennis Beats SMU 4-0 to Advance in NCAAs to Face Illinois in Second Round

May 12, 2006 | Men's Tennis

May 12, 2006

Louisville, Ky. -- The No. 27-ranked University of Louisville men's tennis team advanced to the second round of the 2006 NCAA Men's Tennis Championship with a 4-0 win over SMU, Friday at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center. The Cardinals will face No. 7-seeded Illinois at noon Saturday at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center.

"Everyone will have to play close to perfect game against Illinois. They are loaded with All-Americans and we will have to bring our `A-game'." said U of L head coach Rex Ecarma.

Louisville (18-7) had to battle to win the doubles point. After Jhonny Berrido and Damar Johnson won 8-5 at No. 2, the U of L pair of Tony Teufel and Slavko Radman fell to Federico Murgier and Henrik Soderberg 8-6 at No. 3.

"At one point in the doubles I felt comfortable with Damar and Jhonny's win and the No. 2 team was up with Slavko Radman serving. With Slavko's huge serve, I felt we were in a good place. Then I looked over and saw that they had lost and that really tensed up the No. 1 court."

With the doubles point on the line, Jeremy Clark and Jakob Gustaffson came from behind to win 9-8 (7-3) to clinch.

"It was really exciting doubles point and I think it was great for our crowd to see and it was a positive for us in that way," said Ecarma.

Singles play was suspended for about an hour and 40 minutes due to rain and then was forced to move indoors. When play resumed inside the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center, it took U of L No. 2 singles player Jakob Gustaffson just ten minutes to play the final game of his match and beat Peter Oredsson 6-2, 6-2 to put U of L up 2-0.

"I really wanted to play outdoors even though we have a great record indoors. We had a big crowd and we wanted to accomodate them," said Ecarma. "Any time you have to change venues, the team that is ahead is at a disadvantage. I told them to say loose and just worry about the game they were in, not about winning the whole match."

At No .4, Jeremy Clark won 6-4, 6-3 over David Kuczer to put the Cardinals at 3-0. Nicolas Houard clinched the match with a 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) tiebreaker finish over Oivind Alver.

"I thought they played really well. I thought the doubles was a very important point," said SMU head coach Carl Neufeld. "They played well, winning number one in the breaker. We won three and they won two. That gave them some confidence and I think they played really well in singles. They're a good team. I think that the match against Illinois will be very interesting if they can win the doubles point."

Louisville 4 vs. SMU 0Doubles1.) No. 26 Clark/Gustaffson (Louisville) def. Skrypko/Kuczer (SMU) 9-8 (7-3)2.) Berrido/Johnson (Louisville) def. Alver/Oredsson (SMU) 8-53.) Murgier/Soderberg (SMU) def. Radman/Tony Teufel (Louisville) 8-6Order of Finish 2, 3, 1Singles1.) No 39 Slavko Radman (Louisville) vs. Alex Skrypko (SMU)  2-6, 6-4, 3-3 (dnf)2.) Jakob Gustaffson (Louisville) def.  Peter Oredsson (SMU) 6-2, 6-23.) Damar Johnson (Louisville) vs. Federico Murgier (SMU) 4-6, 7-6 (7-5) 2-1 (dnf)4.) Jeremy Clark (Louisville) def. David Kuczer (SMU) 6-4, 6-35.) Jhonny Berrido (Louisville) vs. Henrik Soderberg (SMU) 6-4, 5-3 (dnf)6.) Nicolas Houard (Louisville) def. Oivind Alver (SMU) 6-3, 7-6 (7-4)Order of finish 2, 4,6