The No. 27 Oregon men’s tennis team (14-3, 1-2 Pac-12) nearly took the doubles point against fifth-ranked UCLA (15-2, 3-1 Pac-12), but the Ducks failed to win a match in their 4-0 loss Saturday afternoon at the UO Student Tennis Center.
“It was a much closer match than I think the score indicated,” Oregon freshman Jayson Amos said.
Oregon came in with a significantly better doubles record than UCLA at 40-15 (UCLA was 39-40). Joey Swaysland and Daan Maasland had a 10-1 doubles record together entering Saturday, and they faced UCLA’s Clay Thompson and Joseph Di Giulio in the No. 2 doubles match. Oregon’s duo never trailed in the match and held at least a two-game lead from the seventh set on. They beat Thompson and Di Giulio 8-5 to give Oregon the early edge.
Oregon’s No. 3 team of Amos and Daniel Sardu faced Mackenzie McDonald and Gage Brymer. Amos and Sardu trailed 6-4 at one point but won consecutive sets to even things up. However, McDonald and Brymer pulled away to win the final two sets and keep UCLA alive for the doubles point.
The No. 1 match was the tightest of all. After taking a 2-0 lead, Robin Cambier and Kevin Farin dropped the next three sets to Marcos Giron and Karue Sell. After that, the two teams traded sets and the match became tied at seven. That set up a tiebreaker set, which the Bruins handled 7-2.
The victory netted UCLA the doubles point and an early 1-0 lead in the team competition.
“I don’t know if they (Farin and Cambier) felt the moment or what not, but we just backed off a little bit,” Oregon head coach Nils Schyllander said. “We made a couple mistakes, gave them a couple of free points and that was the difference.”
In the No. 1 singles match, Farin faced Thompson, the top-ranked player in the country. Farin battled in both sets, especially the first, where he garnered a 4-4 tie. However, Thompson closed out the set by taking the final two games (UCLA won the first set in all six singles matches).
Farin played back-and-forth with Thompson in the second set, as well, but Thompson and his devastating serve were too much for the Oregon sophomore. Thompson took the second and final set 6-4 to give UCLA a 2-0 lead.
“Kevin, being a first-year player, has already proven he can play with anyone,” Schyllander said. Farin lost to the nation’s No. 12-ranked player 6-4, 6-4 on Friday, as well.
Sardu played similarly tight in his first set versus No. 73 Brymer in the No. 4 singles match but also lost 6-4. The next set wasn’t close as Brymer took every game to put the Bruins within one point of a team victory.
On the other end of the court, Maasland and N0. 33 McDonald were nearing the end of a tight second set. After losing the first set 6-1, Maasland needed one more game to take the second. However, his 5-4 lead turned into a 7-5 loss, giving UCLA the victory.
Schyllander and UCLA head coach Billy Martin agreed before the match to not finish any remaining matches after the victory was clinched, to the chagrin of several players.
No. 103 Cambier lost his first set to Giron — ranked No. 6 in the nation — 6-3 in the No. 2 singles but was on the brink of winning his second with a 5-2 lead. Cambier, who beat the nation’s No. 3 player a day earlier, slammed his bag with his racket after Maasland’s loss.
“Very unfortunate for Robin that he didn’t get a chance to finish that,” Schyllander said. “I’m not saying he would’ve won but at least he would’ve had the chance.”
Swaysland lost his first set to No. 83 Sell 6-4 in the No. 5 match and was trailing 4-2 when the match was called.
Amos played the best first set for Oregon, holding a 6-5 lead in his No. 6 match versus Di Giulio, who Amos has played since eight-and-under tournaments. But Amos lost the next set and the tiebreaker and trailed 2-1 in his second set.
“Not finishing matches feels worse than losing, to be honest, not having that closure,” Amos said. “I was confident I was going to come back and win that match.”
The Ducks don’t play again until this coming Friday. They’ll be home again, playing No. 51 Utah at 1:30 p.m. The Utes have beaten the Ducks the last three times they’ve met.
“They definitely have our attention,” Schyllander said. “There’s a reason they’ve beaten us three times in a row. We better be ready.”
Follow Victor Flores on Twitter @vflores415