WACO, Texas – The No. 12 Baylor men's tennis team opened the Hurd Tennis Center for the first time this season on Friday evening, defeating Arizona State, 4-2, in the first round of ITA Kickoff Weekend.
 
Baylor (4-1) won the doubles point to start the night, before taking singles wins on courts three, six and two. With the win, the Bears are now 23-0 all-time in ITA Kickoff Weekend play and have a chance to punch their 12^th-straight ticket to the ITA Indoor National Championships.
 
453 fans descended on the Hurd to cheer on the Bears, the highest attendance since the match against Michigan in March of 2019.
 
THE RUNDOWN
The Bears were never broken in doubles play, as they rolled to a 6-1 win from Luc Koenig and Ethan Muza on court three and a 6-2 win from No. 59 Tadeas Paroulek and Zsombor Velcz on court two. Third-ranked Finn Bass and Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi went unfinished on one.
 
Marko Miladinović continued his stretch of solid tennis, taking his singles match, 6-2, 6-2, on court three over Arizona State's Jacob Ballard to add Baylor's second point of the night and move to 4-1 in singles on the year.
 
ASU's Murphy Cassone got the 7-5, 6-2 match on court one over Bass, but the Bears had a quick answer back from Muza, who beat Nicola Cigna, 7-5, 6-1, on court six.
 
The Bears and Sun Devils traded another point back, as Roi Ginat beat Grassi Mazzuchi, 7-6(6), 6-4, on court four. It was Paroulek that got the 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, comeback win over Max McKennon on two to put the Bears on top.
 
Velcz was the only singles court to go unfinished. After being down after the first set, 7-5, he fought back and forced a tiebreak with a 6-3 set two win.
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• Baylor is 23-0 in ITA Kickoff Weekend.
• BU extends its home win streak to 12.
• The Bears move to a 4-1 doubles point record.
• Baylor now leads the all-time series against Arizona State 7-1.
• No. 59 Velcz/Paroulek are undefeated in doubles at 4-0.

 
STAT OF THE GAME
453  – Number of fans at the Hurd Tennis Center on Friday night, the most since the Bears faced Michigan on May 4, 2019
 
QUOTABLE
Head coach Michael Woodson
On Friday's match…
"The guys on and off the court did a really nice job tonight of competing point after point. We talk about looking like you're winning, which sounds silly but it really matters. What Marko [Miladinović] did in the middle, what Ethan [Muza] did on the end in singles, what Luc [Koenig] did in doubles. We were winning, but we looked like we were flying way above the competition. That is infectious. It picks our guys up and it pulls the other team down, and it gets the crowd involved. I think it's really important."
 
Looking forward to tomorrow's match against No. 9 Florida State…
"We'll hopefully have about ten degrees warmer weather, but it's also two top-15 programs. Florida State is No.  9, and they've earned it, they've beat Georgia already. They just have a really, really talented group that we know is very strong, but our guys are battling. I really feel like we're playing as a team, and I think our best tennis is ahead of us. But the way that we're competing is special. Hopefully we have a great crowd, they much such a huge difference, and I'm excited to battle it out tomorrow."
 
WHAT'S NEXT
The No. 12 Bears face the No. 9 Seminoles on Saturday night at 6 p.m. for a trip to Chicago and the ITA Indoor National Championships.