WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Mateus Silva clinched a fifth straight win for the 54th-ranked Purdue men's tennis team as the Boilermakers defeated DePaul, 5-2, Wednesday on the Basham Courts. Silva's 7-5, 6-2 win at the No. 6 spot lifted Purdue's record to 6-1 heading into its Big Ten Conference opener on Friday against No. 23 Northwestern. Action from the Schwartz Tennis Center is set to get underway at 2 p.m. ET.
The Blue Demons struck first by winning at No. 1 doubles. Aaron Dujovne and Diego Acosta fell to Filip Dzanko and David Vieyra, 8-3. Mark Kovacs and Silva evened the battle for the doubles point by posting an 8-6 decision over Jan-Willem Feilizer and Paul John for their second win while playing at No. 3 and their third win together overall. The doubles point went to DePaul as Kyle Johnson and Sten Leusink prevailed in the breaker, 8-7 (7-4), against Boilermakers Szymon Tatarczyk and Ricky Medinilla.
"Give them [DePaul] credit [for winning the doubles point]," Dujovne said. "Their energy level was higher and today they were better than us. They had a better serve and return game, which is important when you're playing doubles."
Acosta rebounded from the doubles loss to tie the team score at 1-1 with his 7-5, 6-2 victory over Johnson at the No. 5 position for Purdue. Hailing from Cuenca, Ecuador, Acosta has won his last four matches and owns a record of 6-1 in his junior campaign. Like his partner, Dujovne responded to the doubles loss with a dominating 6-1, 6-0 outing against John. He improved to 3-1 while playing at No. 4 and 5-1 overall.
"Today I was focused and I wanted to take care of business," Dujovne said. "My intensity was way better today compared to Sunday."
The winning ways continued with a victory from Kovacs at No. 3, a 6-4, 6-4 decision over Vieyra. The senior has won five consecutive matches and boasts a 6-1 mark.
Dzanko secured DePaul's second point with a win at No. 1, making the score 3-2, but Silva denied the Blue Demons with his victory. Tatarczyk closed out the match in dramatic fashion, rallying from a first set loss (6-1) for a come-from-behind win. The senior took the second set 6-3 and cruised in the third and decisive set, 6-1, to push his record to 4-1.
No. 54 Purdue 5, DePaul 2 | Box Score
Doubles
1: Filip Dzanko/David Vieyra (DePaul) def. Aaron Dujovne/Diego Acosta (Purdue), 8-3
2: Kyle Johnson/Sten Leusink (DePaul) def. Szymon Tatarczyk/Ricky Medinilla (Purdue), 8-7 (7-4)
3: Mark Kovacs/Mateus Silva (Purdue) def. Jan-Willem Feilizer/Paul John (DePaul), 8-6
Singles
1: Filip Dzanko (DePaul) def. Ricky Medinilla (Purdue), 6-1, 7-5
2: Szymon Tatarczyk (Purdue) def. Sten Leusink (DePaul), 1-6, 6-3, 6-1
3: Mark Kovacs (Purdue) def. David Vieyra (DePaul), 6-4, 6-4
4: Aaron Dujovne (Purdue) def. Paul John (DePaul), 6-1, 6-0
5: Diego Acosta (Purdue) def. Joshua Schramm (DePaul), 6-2, 6-1
6: Mateus Silva (Purdue) def. Kyle Johnson (DePaul), 7-5, 6-2