Mens Tennis: Irish get off to slow dual meet start
By JOE LINDSLEY
Sports Writer
With two losses to Big Ten opponents over the weekend, the No. 27 Irish are off to an 0-2 start for the spring season. Ohio State defeated Notre Dame 6-1 on Sunday in Columbus, and Indiana triumphed 4-3 Friday at the Eck Center.
Sophomore Brent D'Amico was the only Irish player to win on both days, and he had the one Irish victory against Ohio State.
D'Amico, playing Dennis Mertens at No. 2 singles, won in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3. That turned out to be the only bright spot for Notre Dame after three close matches turned in favor of the Buckeyes.
Freshman Patrick Buchanan, in his second loss of the season, fell to Kevin McLean, 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 (11-9). Junior Luis Haddock, an Irish captain ranked 72nd nationally, fought with No. 45 Vince Ng at the No. 1 flight. Ng survived the battle, 7-6 (7-3), 6-0. Junior Matt Scott, No. 119 in the nation, was prepared to upset No. 7 Jeremy Wurtzman. Scott led in his first set before Wurtzman triumphed, 7-5, 6-3. Senior Brian Farrell and freshman Eric Langenkamp came away with the other singles losses, both in straight sets.
The Buckeyes easily commanded the doubles point with their 8-3, 8-6, and 8-1 wins. Friday's match was considerably closer.
The Irish began well with their clinching of the doubles point. D'Amico and Scott defeated Zach Held and Ryan Recht, 8-5. The Recht/Held duo last year was able to triumph over the Irish pair of Casey Smith and Javier Taborga, who were ranked fifth nationally. Haddock and Brian Farrell then won 8-1 over Viktor Libal and Peter Novotny.
In singles play, Haddock won easily at No. 1 over Libal, 6-4, 6-2. D'Amico defeated Novotny 7-5, 6-4. Scott suffered the same fate Taborga experienced last year at the hands of Jakub Praibis, and he lost 6-1, 7-6.
Langenkamp lost in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5, and Farrell and Bunchanan both lost in three sets.
The Irish have rockier road ahead of them, especially with No. 2 Illinois traveling to the Eck Center Wednesday. Last year, the Illini prevailed 4-1 over the Irish in the Round of 16 at the NCAA tournament.
All Sports Stories for Monday, January 27, 2003
