ST. LOUIS – It was a back-and-forth match between the Illinois State and Saint Louis men's tennis teams Wednesday and the outcome came down to the final matchup of the day, as the Redbirds were able to win that deciding contest to come away with a 4-3 win at the Kings Point Sports Club and extend their winning streak to four matches in a row.
"What a comeback win for the boys," ISU head coach Mark Klysner said. "We were missing some regular starters today who were injured, so we traveled down there short a few of the guys. Our doubles play was not our best and we let go of some match points which would have clinched the point. However, the singles the guys pulled it together and after Nam played amazing at No. 1 and set the tone, it really sparked the other guys to raise their level. Huge shout out to Zach who hasn't seen as much singles action and with a badly hurt shoulder clinched the match for us at the No. 6 spot to seal the 4-3 win."
The doubles matches were tied at 1-1 after Nam Pham and Ming-Chieh Chiu won at the No. 1 spot, but a 7-6 win by Saint Louis at the No. 3 spot clinched the early doubles point. Pham then set the tone in the singles matches, defeating Eliott Ekindi by a score of 6-1, 6-0 to tie the match at 1-1. A straight-set victory by Pol Botifoll Rius at the No. 3 spot then gave the Redbirds the advantage 2-1, but a win by Saint Louis at No. 5 knotted things up again. Diego Le Gal Perez then won at the No. 2 position to put the Redbirds up 3-2, but once again the match was tied at 3-3 when Oscar Alvarez won for SLU at the No. 4 spot.
It all came down to the No. 6 matchup between Zacharias Rankloo Rasmusson and Pavel Badaiants to decide which team took home the victory. Rasmusson took the first set 7-5 and then won the second set 6-4 to pick up the victory for the Redbirds and extend the team's winning streak to four.
The Redbirds return to action on Sunday, when they open Summit League play in Des Moines, Iowa, against the Drake Bulldogs.
ILLINOIS STATE (4), SAINT LOUIS (3)
Singles Competition
1. Nam Pham (ILS) def. Eliott Ekindi (SLU) 6-1, 6-0
2. Diego Le Gal Perez (ILS) def. Ryota Fukushima (SLU) 6-4, 6-3
3. Pol Botifoll Rius (ILS) def. Ignacio Tintore (SLU) 6-2, 6-3
4. Oscar Alvarez (SLU) def. Ming-Chieh Chiu (ILS) 7-5, 7-6
5. Adam Behun (SLU) def. Shu-Lun Chang (ILS) 7-6, 6-2
6. Zacharias Rankloo Rasmusson (ILS) def. Pavel Badaiants (SLU) 7-5, 6-4
Doubles Competition
1. Nam Pham/Ming-Chieh Chiu (ILS) def. Eliott Ekindi/Pavel Badaiants (SLU) 7-6
2. Oscar Alvarez/Adam Behun (SLU) def. Diego Le Gal Perez/Zacharias Rankloo Rasmusson (ILS) 6-1
3. Jonathan Sadowski/Alex Heiden (SLU) def. Pol Botifoll Rius/Shu-Lun Chang (ILS) 7-6
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