03-04-2022, 02:32 PM
(This post was last modified: 03-04-2022, 03:13 PM by ColoradoTree.)
Quick look at Oregon:
* They lost top 5 player Janice Tjen, who took the country by storm as a freshman last year, to Pepperdine, where her game has slipped a bit--she's playing #4 singles for the Waves.
* They're ranked #49, and they're currently 8-2.
* Prior to last year's upset win by Oregon, Stanford had never lost to the Ducks.
* Early-season losses to Tulsa and UNC Charlotte suggested a weak team, but they've done well since, beating #53 Wisconsin 4-3, #51 Denver 4-2, and St. Mary's 4-1. In each of those three wins, Oregon won the doubles point, so expect a competitive doubles point.
* In singles, we're favored on every line, but I wouldn't be at all surprised to see a close match at #4. Here's how we'll likely line up:
1. #18 Ma vs. Sophie Luescher (Fr., Switzerland)
2. #17 Yepifanova vs. Myah Petchey (So., England)
3. Blake vs. Ares Teixido Garcia (So., Spain, Alabama transfer)
4. Houghton vs. Lillian Mould (So., England)
5. #65 Xu vs. Uxia Martinez Moral (So., Spain)
6. Choy vs. Karin Young (Fr., the great state of Minnesota)
So, while Stanford is the better team, Oregon is a very young team, and things can be pretty variable with young teams. And yes, a very international team as well, as Oregon tennis isn't much of a draw to the best domestic players. In the individual tournaments last fall, Mould beat Madurawe 6-3, 6-4 and Ma beat Teixido Garcia 6-2, 6-1, but that looks to be it. Not sure if they'll play it out, but if they don't, this feels like it should be 4-0 though it could be 4-1 if we're bad in doubles. If we play it out, somewhere from 5-2 to 7-0, but this should be a straightforward win to kick off Pac-12 play.
In doubles, Ma/Blake and Xu/Yepifanova are each up a break at 3-1 apiece, whereas Geller/Madurawe on Court 3 is down a break, 1-3.
Make that 4-1, 4-1, and 1-4. Geller/Madurawe not clicking today.
Geller/Madurawer drop a head-scratcher 1-6, but Blake/Ma take their match by a mirror-image score, and Xu/Yepifanova take their 6-2 for the doubles point. (Or, at least, I think they did. Xu was serving for the set, my computer froze, and then now it says there is no live streaming currently, so I'm putting two and two together here.)
* They lost top 5 player Janice Tjen, who took the country by storm as a freshman last year, to Pepperdine, where her game has slipped a bit--she's playing #4 singles for the Waves.
* They're ranked #49, and they're currently 8-2.
* Prior to last year's upset win by Oregon, Stanford had never lost to the Ducks.
* Early-season losses to Tulsa and UNC Charlotte suggested a weak team, but they've done well since, beating #53 Wisconsin 4-3, #51 Denver 4-2, and St. Mary's 4-1. In each of those three wins, Oregon won the doubles point, so expect a competitive doubles point.
* In singles, we're favored on every line, but I wouldn't be at all surprised to see a close match at #4. Here's how we'll likely line up:
1. #18 Ma vs. Sophie Luescher (Fr., Switzerland)
2. #17 Yepifanova vs. Myah Petchey (So., England)
3. Blake vs. Ares Teixido Garcia (So., Spain, Alabama transfer)
4. Houghton vs. Lillian Mould (So., England)
5. #65 Xu vs. Uxia Martinez Moral (So., Spain)
6. Choy vs. Karin Young (Fr., the great state of Minnesota)
So, while Stanford is the better team, Oregon is a very young team, and things can be pretty variable with young teams. And yes, a very international team as well, as Oregon tennis isn't much of a draw to the best domestic players. In the individual tournaments last fall, Mould beat Madurawe 6-3, 6-4 and Ma beat Teixido Garcia 6-2, 6-1, but that looks to be it. Not sure if they'll play it out, but if they don't, this feels like it should be 4-0 though it could be 4-1 if we're bad in doubles. If we play it out, somewhere from 5-2 to 7-0, but this should be a straightforward win to kick off Pac-12 play.
In doubles, Ma/Blake and Xu/Yepifanova are each up a break at 3-1 apiece, whereas Geller/Madurawe on Court 3 is down a break, 1-3.
Make that 4-1, 4-1, and 1-4. Geller/Madurawe not clicking today.
Geller/Madurawer drop a head-scratcher 1-6, but Blake/Ma take their match by a mirror-image score, and Xu/Yepifanova take their 6-2 for the doubles point. (Or, at least, I think they did. Xu was serving for the set, my computer froze, and then now it says there is no live streaming currently, so I'm putting two and two together here.)