Feb. 17, 2008
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue (5-3) concluded its weekend home series with a 6-1 win over Toledo (6-6) Sunday at the Schwartz Tennis Center. The Boilermakers remain unbeaten at home with a 5-0 record.
Purdue won eight of nine matches, including all three doubles and five of six singles contests.
Head coach Tim Madden said the Boilermakers understand what it takes to achieve a complete team victory.
"It required a total team effort in singles and doubles to win this match," he said. "We started flat in doubles but dug deep at the No. 1 and 3 positions, then came back and got the job done. In singles, again we fought hard right until the very end."
After Purdue grabbed a 3-1 lead following Slavko Bijelica's 7-6 (5), 7-5 win at No. 2 singles, the question became who could clinch this match for the Boilermakers.
Branko Kuzmanovic, Griff Nienberg and Paul Foley were all in the midst of a third set when Bijelica earned his fourth-straight victory. Kuzmanovic was engaged in a tug-of-war with Jared Miller at No. 1, while Nienberg and Foley were just getting started with their opponents at No. 4 and 5.
Toledo proved it could compete with the Boilermakers early on by capturing four of the first six sets, but the Rockets completely folded in the second set as all but one of their players lost.
Game-winning honors ended up going to Nienberg, who rallied from a set down to topple Tyler Sonkin 3-6, 6-2, 6-3. Nienberg currently owns Purdue's longest individual winning streak at five matches and has not lost since Feb. 2 at No. 75 Harvard.
Kuzmanovic followed with his three-set triumph over Miller, 2-6, 6-1, 7-5. The sophomore scored back-to-back points after being down 4-3, and again after Miller tied the set at 5-5.
Kuzmanovic expects Sunday's win will serve as his season's turning point.
"I'm confident in myself, I've put in a lot of hard work and I should win a lot more matches from here on out," he said. "I was telling myself I can't play this bad, so I stayed calm and waited for my opportunity to come back. I broke his serve in the second set and managed to win eight-straight points after that."
"Branko has many gifts," Madden said. "He is one of the most talented and quickest tennis players out there - his quickness is exceptional - and he does a great job of using everything he has to win. He just has to focus on getting it done."
Kuzmanovic's singles comeback was his second of the day. He and teammate Bijelica were down 7-4 at No. 1 doubles to Miller and Knot Likitkumchorn before claiming the next five points and winning 9-7.
Purdue won the doubles point thanks to Foley's and Nienberg's efforts at No. 3. The Boilermaker veterans went back-and-forth with Sonkin and Wade Ward, tying them at 6-6, 7-7 and eventually 8-8 before entering the tiebreak.
Sonkin and Wade jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the tiebreak, but Foley and Nienberg stormed back with five-consecutive points after switching ends of the court.
P.J. Rose and Jose Fuenmayor won the first doubles match at No. 2, stomping Chris Clark and Sven Burus 8-2.
Rose went on to beat Burus again at No. 3 singles, 6-2, 6-2.
After the match had been decided, Foley put the boots to Likitkumchorn in winning 6-7, 6-3, 6-2.
The Boilermakers next match is at No. 9 Notre Dame on Feb. 24. The dual is slated to start at noon.