Baylor Men's Tennis Splits Sunday Doubleheader

WACO, Texas – Baylor men’s tennis split its Sunday doubleheader at the Hurd Tennis Center, dropping the opener to Arizona State, 4-3, before defeating Furman, 6-1, in the nightcap.

Baylor (7-9) claimed both doubles points on the day and gained wins in singles play from Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi and Zsombor Velcz in both ends of the doubleheader.

THE RUNDOWN

MATCH ONE

The Bears got the doubles point from wins on Courts One and Two. 10th-ranked Tadeas Paroulek and Velcz won 6-3 over Jacob Bullard and Murphy Cassone, while Luc Koenig and Grassi Mazzuchi claimed their second win of the season together, 7-5, over Max McKennon and Spencer Brachman.

The Bears got out to a quick 3-0 lead from two singles wins, as Velcz made quick work of Bullard, downing the junior 6-1, 6-3. Grassi Mazzuchi was next in beating a Sun Devil, Roi Ginat, 6-3, 6-1.

McKennon started a run from the visiting ASU Sun Devils, defeating Marko Miladinvoić, 6-4, 6-4. Muza was defeated on six by Brachman, 7-5(5), 6-3.

The match was clinched behind a duo of three-set fights, beginning with Constantinos Koshis taking the 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 decision over Koenig on four. No. 87 Murphy Cassone closed the match with a win on one over No. 77 Paroulek, 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-2.

MATCH TWO

The second doubles point of the day was claimed with Paroulek and Velcz winning 6-2 on one, before Justin Braverman and Christopher Frantzen took the 6-4 result on three. The match with Koenig and Grassi Mazzuchi at No. 2 was left unfinished with the Bears up 6-5.

Grassi Mazzuchi opened singles with a double-bagel, 6-0, 6-0, over Connor Laymon. Shortly after, freshman Velcz dominated on three with a 6-1, 6-1 win.

Koenig recorded his first singles win of the day on Court Four in the second match, 6-1, 6-2 over Cole Burnam, before 77th-ranked Velcz took down Jerry Barton 6-3, 6-3 on one.

Justin Braverman finished off the night with a dominant second set, winning 7-6(4), 6-2.

Furman’s only set and match win of the night came on two, where Elijah Poritzky defeated Marko Miladinović, 6-4, 6-3.

QUOTABLE

Head coach Michael Woodson

On Sunday’s action…

“It was a busy day of tennis. I think we got everything that we wanted and bargained for with good tests in both matches. I think obviously it was tough in the first match to go 3-0 and have opportunities, but that's college tennis. And I think it’s a really difficult thing to do to bounce back after losing to come back to play again. I think in general, we did a good job with having good energy and focus from the start and we got off the court fast in a few a few spots, which was impressive. Credit to Juampi [Grassi Mazzuchi] and Zsombor [Velcz]. I think they had a really, really good day. They're playing excellent tennis and starting to find their rhythm. And I think doubles is getting better, we had a big emphasis on that over the last couple of weeks and we're moving in the right direction. It’s an opportunity to get better this week as we look to future matches.”

WHAT’S NEXT

The Bears take a spring break trip to Los Angeles, where they will face USC on Friday, March 10.