Sunday, 02/08/2009

DALLAS - In a battle of nationally ranked men's tennis teams, it was No. 46 SMU who prevailed over the University of New Orleans 6-1 at Turpin Tennis Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

SMU (3-3) won for the second straight match while sending UNO (6-1) to their first defeat of the season after winning the first six dual matches on the 2009 slate.

The dual did not come easily for the Mustangs as the doubles' point came down to the No. 2 court where the two teams went to a tiebreaker. Adham el-Effendi and Darren Walsh of SMU ended Ben Smith and Jose Gaspar's five-match win streak with a 9-8 (2) victory.

No. 2 doubles became the deciding match after the UNO tandem of Calvin Kemp and Guilherme Rebolo won 8-5 over Robin Fahgen and Chris Hooshyar 8-5 on the No. 1 court and SMU's David Costa and Artem Baradach defeated Oliver Cuthill and Vinay Kamineni at No. 3 8-2.

Cuthill would bounce back from his doubles' setback to extend his winning streak to six straight matches with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Bryan Griffin at No. 6 singles.

Kemp saw his six-match win streak come to a halt as Fahgen won at the No. 1 position, 6-3, 6-1. Fahgen, a native of Sweden, had already claimed a victory over the No. 21 ranked player in the country earlier this season.

Gaspar and Smith also saw length streaks snapped. Gaspar fell at No. 4 singles to Walsh 6-4, 6-4 while Smith lost at No. 5 to el-Effendi when the match went to a super tiebreaker in the third set, 6-7 (3), 6-2, 10-4.

In a match that truly went the distance in the second set, Costa beat Kamineni on the No. 2 court as the match went 19-17 to the Mustangs' player in a second-set tiebreaker. Kamineni, who has not been healthy all weekend put up a fight throughout the match, falling 6-4, 7-6 (17).

The Privateers will welcome Southeastern La. to the Lakefront on Wednesday. The Lions (1-1) and UNO will get their dual underway at the University Tennis Center with a first serve at 2 p.m.

#46 SMU 6, #75 University of New Orleans 1
Feb 08, 2009 at Dallas, Texas (Turpin Tennis Stadium)

Singles competition
1. Robin Fahgen (SMU) def. Calvin Kemp (UNO) 6-3, 6-1
2. David Costa (SMU) def. Vinay Kamineni (UNO) 6-4, 7-6 (19-17)
3. #118 Artem Baradach (SMU) def. Guilherme Rebolo (UNO) 6-0, 6-4
4. Darren Walsh (SMU) def. Jose Gaspar (UNO) 6-4, 6-4
5. Adham el-Effendi (SMU) def. Ben Smith (UNO) 6-7 (3-7), 6-2, 10-4
6. Oliver Cuthill (UNO) def. Bryan Griffin (SMU) 6-3, 6-4

Doubles competition
1. Calvin Kemp/Guilherme Rebolo (UNO) def. Robin Fahgen/Chris Hooshyar (SMU) 8-5
2. Adham el-Effendi/Darren Walsh (SMU) def. Ben Smith/Jose Gaspar (UNO) 9-8 (7-2)
3. David Costa/Artem Baradach (SMU) def. Oliver Cuthill/Vinay Kamineni (UNO) 8-2