SMU Tennis Off To Good Start

HOUSTON (SMU) – In its first event of the 2013-14 season, SMU men’s tennis dominated in doubles play and won multiple singles matches at the Wyndham Invitational hosted by Rice. The tournament concluded Sunday.

The Mustangs took eight of nine possible doubles matches, including perfect 2-0 marks in Flight A for both No. 43 Arturs Kazijevs and Mischa Nowicki, as well as Nate Lammons and Alex Sanders. Both pairs won their first match 8-5, and their second 8-4.

In Flight B, The combination of Eduardo Razzeto and Julio Olaya lost a tight first match 8-7 (6), but succeeded in their following two matches, winning 6-3 and then 6-4.

Kazijevs, who is ranked 73rd nationally in singles, went 2-1 in Flight A of singles, winning his first match against Cedric Rutsaert of Tulane in straight sets and beating No. 108 Adam Gustafsson of Rice on Sunday. Sanders would also pick up a win in Flight A against Rutsaert.

In Flight B, Nowicki would pick up a win on Saturday against Ian Van Cott of Tulane, winning in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4. Lammons defeated Alex Van Cott of Tulane in his first match on Friday, then beat Ian Van Cott on Sunday. Razzeto picked up two wins in Flight C, while Olaya earned one in his first-career collegiate event.

SMU Head Coach Carl Neufeld appreciated the effort his team put in over the weekend.

“We had a great weekend of highly-competiitve tennis against three nationally-ranked teams,” Neufeld said. “We played very well in singles and our doubles teams won eight-of-nine matches. This was a fantastic weekend to begin our fall development.”

The Mustangs’ next stop will be Saturday at the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla.