March 18, 2017 Complete Results
THE RUNDOWN
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. - In the second match of the BNP Paribas Open Collegiate Tennis Challenge Presented by Oracle, the sixth-ranked Baylor men's tennis produced a 4-0 victory over No. 13 California Saturday at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
The Bears avenged their 4-2 defeat to the Golden Bears that took place on Feb. 17 at the ITA National Team Indoor Tennis Championships.
For the second consecutive match, BU won the doubles point. At the No. 3 position, Max Tchoutakian and Constantin Frantzen took down the pairing of Bjorn Hoffman and J.T. Nishimura, 6-2. Before Cal could respond, the Bears clinched the doubles point with a 6-4 triumph on court one by Juan Benitez and Will Little over the No. 1 doubles pairing in the country of Filip Bergevi and Florian Lakat.
In singles play, the Bears finished off Cal by winning three singles matches in straight sets. Juan Benitez, ranked No. 15, downed No.14 ranked Lakat, 6-3, 6-3, at the top of the lineup.
At the No. 3 spot, the 81st-ranked Johannes Schretter put the Bears one point away from victory by knocking off No. 109 ranked Bergevi, 6-4, 6-1.
To clinch the victory and put BU in Sunday's final, Constantin Frantzen cruised past Dominic Baretto, 7-6(2), 6-4, at the No. 6 spot.
TOP QUOTE #1
"I think the last match was one we were heartbroken about. Max was getting close to finishing and we thought we had a really good chance to win but they did a better job closing out the matches, so we were really excited to get another chance to play them because we have a lot of respect for them and how good they are. We were really excited to see how we'd come out and the guys had a great mindset going into the match. We felt we'd have to be at our very best to do well, and we came out and really competed well today." ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢' ¬" Knoll on early season defeat to Cal
TOP QUOTE #2
"It's always great to be in a final, it's always a great experience. We're really excited about it. If we're going to play, it's fun to win. To have a chance to win this really prestigious college event is a big deal and we really appreciate the opportunity. Hopefully we come out and play well and build on what we've done so far." ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢' ¬" Knoll on playing in final tomorrow
OTHER NOTABLES
- Baylor is now 15-3 on the season, while Cal is 10-5.
- Baylor is now 7-2 in neutral site matches in 2017.
WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor will now face No. 7 USC at 12 p.m. CT Sunday in the final match at the BNP Paribas Open Collegiate Tennis Challenge Presented by Oracle.
For more information on the Baylor men's tennis team all season long, follow the team's official Twitter and Instagram account: @BaylorMTennis.
