No. 6 Men's Tennis Blanks No. 31 Cal in Semifinal Match
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. – No. 6 Baylor men’s tennis (15-2) earned its spot in the tournament final when it blew past No. 31 California (7-6) in 4-0 fashion at the BNP Paribas Open Collegiate Tennis Challenge Saturday afternoon at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, Calif.
Baylor will face No. 16 USC in a rematch of the 2017 championship final Sunday at noon CT.
The Bears opened up the match with Will Little and Matias Soto’s 6-2 upset over 33rd-ranked Can Kaya and Paul Barretto at the No. 2 spot.
Then, No. 2 Jimmy Bendeck and Sven Lah downed another ranked opponent with a 6-2 win against No. 11 Jacob Brumm and Yuta Kikuchi at the top of the lineup. The duo improves to 7-0 against ranked opponents this season.
In singles action, the Bears kept the momentum as No. 77 Matias Soto collected a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Jack Molloy on court two. Then, Adrian Boitan won his seventh-straight match as he took down Bjorn Hoffman, 7-5, 7-5, at the No. 4 spot.
On his 21st birthday, Constantin Frantzen clinched the match when he recorded a 7-6(2), 6-4 win over Dominic Barretto at the No. 6 spot.
To keep up with things all season long, follow the team on social media: @BaylorMTennis.
HIGHLIGHTS
• Baylor improves to 7-3 all-time against California.
• Baylor is now 14-3 in the doubles point and 14-0 when winning the opening point this season.
• Three Bears (Frantzen, Boitan, Soto) clinch a singles point for the second-straight day.
• Adrian Boitan won his seventh-straight match, improving to 7-1 in singles action.
• No. 77 Matias Soto is now 12-2 in spring singles play.
• Constantin Frantzen is now 6-0 in spring singles action.
• Jimmy Bendeck and Sven Lah are now 19-2 this season in doubles play and are 7-0 against ranked opponents.
• Baylor advances to the championship final of the tournament for the second time in three seasons.
• Baylor is now 11-5 all-time at the BNP Paribas Open Collegiate Tennis Challenge.
• Baylor is now 7-1 in its last eight matches at the BNP Paribas Open Collegiate Tennis Challenge.
STAT OF THE MATCH
7 – the amount of wins over ranked opponents for second-ranked Jimmy Bendeck and Sven Lah.
TOP QUOTE
Head coach Brian Boland
On the win…
“Cal is an outstanding team. I could not be more impressed with how hard our guys compete. We are really looking forward to playing an excellent USC team tomorrow.”
WHAT’S NEXT
Baylor closes out its run at the BNP Paribas Open Collegiate Tennis Challenge presented by Oracle, facing third-seeded and No. 16 USC in the tournament final Sunday at noon CT at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, Calif.