University of Washington
Fresno State
Men's Tennis Upset By Fresno State, 4-3, Amidst Hostile Environment
February 20, 2004 | Men's Tennis
Feb. 20, 2004
FRESNO, Calif. - Under fire from an enemy crowd which was actually penalized a point for verbal abuse, Washington men's tennis lost its second match of the year, 4-3, in their first road match at Fresno State. The 10th-ranked Huskies (7-2) split the singles matches with the 39th-ranked Bulldogs (5-4) but Fresno State had captured the doubles point earlier, 2-1, and that proved to be the difference.
The match came down to the fourth singles spot, where freshman Daniel Chu was tied at 4-4 in the third set against the Bulldogs' Charles Irie, with Washington trailing 3-2. Irie broke Chu's serve and served out the match in the next game, handing Chu the first dual loss of his career and securing the upset for Fresno State.
For only the second time this year, Washington failed to earn the doubles point. The 11th-ranked combo of junior Alex Vlaski and freshman Alex Slovic defeated Fresno State's top pair, 8-4, but UW suffered a setback at third doubles where Chu and senior Nick Weiss lost for the first time this year by an 8-4 mark. But Fresno State pulled out the doubles point at number two doubles over the Huskies' Peter Scharler and Christoph Palmanshofer in a highly competitive match, 9-7.
The match was Washington's first outdoor meet of the season, but the crowd ruined the atmosphere more than any wind or rain. Bulldog supporters continuously berated Husky players and persisted to cause problems despite a warning from officials. When the crowd did not relent, Fresno State was penalized a point, which was awarded to the highest match on court, Alex Vlaski versus Greg Shearer. "Never in all my years of collegiate tennis have I seen a crowd get penalized a point like that," said Husky head coach Matt Anger. "And they should have been penalized more. The players competed really hard and there was good sportsmanship out on the court, but the actions of the crowd was completely inappropriate."
The Huskies lost despite dominating the top two singles spots as second-ranked All-American Alex Vlaski took out Greg Shearer in straight sets at No. 1 singles and 53rd-ranked Slovic ran his unbeaten dual record to 9-0 at second singles, still without dropping a set. Peter Scharler also helped the Husky effort with his straight-set win at No. 5 singles, but juniors Palmanshofer and Scott Felsenthal fell at third and sixth singles, respectively. Both UW losses this season have been intensely close 4-3 affairs, the first coming against Mississippi who are now ranked fourth.
The men will look to rebound quickly for a matchup against 28th-ranked San Diego, tomorrow at 2 p.m. again at the Wathen Tennis Center on the Fresno State campus.
Washington Men's Tennis vs. Fresno State
February 20, 2004 - Wathen Tennis Center
No. 10 Washington 3, No. 39 Fresno State 4
Doubles
1) #11 Vlaski/Slovic (UW) def. Suta/Modoc (FS), 8-4
2) Shearer/Irie (FS) def. Scharler/Palmanshofer (UW), 9-7
3) Krohn/Cech (FS) def. Weiss/Chu (UW), 8-4
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2
Singles
1) #2 Alex Vlaski (UW) def. Greg Shearer (FS), 6-4, 7-5
2) #53 Alex Slovic (UW) def. Alex Krohn (FS), 6-3, 6-1
3) Stefan Suta (FS) def. #61 Christoph Palmanshofer (UW), 7-5, 6-2
4) Charles Irie (FS) def. Daniel Chu (UW), 6-4, 4-6, 6-4*
5) Peter Scharler (UW) def. Jure Kekez (FS), 6-4, 7-6 (6)
6) Jakub Cech (FS) def. Scott Felsenthal (UW), 6-3, 7-6 (3)
Order of finish: 2, 3, 5, 6, 4, 1
