March 19, 2011
SAN DIEGO - The Purdue men's tennis team dropped the championship match of the San Diego Invitational to the No. 20 San Diego Toreros, 6-1, on Saturday at the Aztec Tennis Center.
"Today was a heart breaking loss," Boilermaker head coach Pawel Gajdzik said. "It was a very close loss despite what the scoreboard might show. We had a lot of chances and we looked like we belonged out there against some of the best competition in the country. We had our chances. Szymon Tatarczyk and Krisztian Krocsko played pretty well. The difference that we have made in the last two weeks is enormous. The guys are starting to believe. If you compare the Baylor match from a couple weeks ago to today, we are much better. It was a four hour battle and we were in every single match. I am proud of the guys the way they competed."
San Diego (14-2) narrowly pulled out the doubles point as they won the No. 1 and No. 3 matches. Emilio Mora and Dean Jackson were first to finish as they topped Aaron Dujovne and Mark Kovacs at No. 3, 8-4. The next two matches finished almost simultaneously as Eric Ramos and Krocsko of Purdue knocked off Clarke Spinosa and Thibaut Visy at No. 2, 8-6, and Nikola Bubnic and Nils Schive clinched the point for the Toreros by defeating Tatarczyk and Pawel Poziomski at No. 1, 8-5.
Purdue (9-6) watched the deficit increase to 0-2 after Poziomski fell to Abdullah Hashem, 6-2, 6-3, at No. 6 singles. San Diego increased its lead to 3-0 after Visy beat Kovacs, 6-4, 6-3, at No. 3. The Boilermakers finally got on the board when Dujovne won his match at No. 5. The Santiago, Chile, native defeated Mora, 6-3, 6-4, to tighten the team score to 3-1.
San Diego, however, was able to clinch the match when Bubnic defeated Krocsko at No. 2. Krocsko put up a valiant comeback effort, but fell, 6-3, 7-6 (3), after leading 5-2 in the second set. Jackson, the 30th-ranked player in the most recent Campbell/ITA College Tennis Rankings, had to earn his victory over Tatarczyk at No. 1 with a 5-7, 6-3, 4-1 ret. win. The 83rd-best player in the country, Spinosa, closed out the San Diego Invitational championship match by topping Ramos, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, at No. 4.
"We gained a bit of experience this weekend in San Diego," Gajdzik said. "We had three great matches and we got better. It was a very tough tournament when you look at the teams that competed here. Just a few weeks ago, six of the eight teams were in the top 40. It was good for our guys to go up against that kind of competition day in and day out. We had some great wins this week over Denver and San Diego State. The guys are progressing and we are getting ready for the Big Ten. I am excited to get back to Big Ten competition next week."
The Boilermakers hit the courts again on Friday as they return to Big Ten Conference play against the No. 16 Michigan Wolverines. The Wolverines are currently 7-5 on the season. They open Big Ten play on Sunday at instate rival Michigan State. Purdue brings in a 0-1 league record after falling at No. 41 Indiana on March 12. The match is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. ET from the Schwartz Tennis Center in West Lafayette, Ind.