Denver Edges Men's Tennis 4-2 in Home Opener
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — In a match that was about as even as even could be, No. 31 Denver squeaked out a 4-2 victory over New Mexico, handing UNM a fourth straight loss, all to nationally-ranked opponents.
UNM has now been on the heels of a break-though victory, and it looked like the team’s first home match in over a year would be the site of it, but UNM had Denver on the ropes and couldn’t quite put them away.
The key match turned out to be No. 4 singles. With the match tied at 2-2 after UNM took points at No. 1 and No. 3 singles and Denver got a win at No. 6 singles and the double point, Sergio Molina scuffled and battled. He found himself on the wrong side of a 3-0 hole to open the match, and fought back, only to lose the opening set 7-5. He rebounded well, and took a 6-4 second set but dropped an early break and was behind through the entirety of the third set.
He wiggled his way to 5-3 but was still down a break with opponent Peter Salley up 40-30, holding two serves for the match. Molina forced Salley to hit a backhand long to save one match point and then fired a winner down the line to make it 5-4 on serve. Molina was also down 6-5 and serving at deuce, a third match point for Salley, but his volley ticked the net and flipped outside the line, forcing a tiebreaker.
In the tiebreaker, Molina was up 2-1 when a Salley drop shot was well short, and he took a 4-2 lead into the changeover. That lead loved to 6-3 after a superb backhand, giving Molina three match points with two serves coming. However, needing just the one point, he couldn’t get it and Molina and Salley played several long points, and two unforced errors later, it was 6-6, each player missing three match points.
Salley didn’t miss the fourth, giving him a hard-fought 8-6 third set tiebreaker, and a 3-2 Denver lead. That meant Rafael Abdulsalam needed to win at No. 5 and Dominic West needed a win at No. 2. Both won opening sets, and West had a chance to put Mattia Ros away in the second set in a tiebreak, but at 4-4, West double faulted and Ros served out his two points for a 7-4 win. At one time West was up a break at 5-2 in the second set.
Abdulsalam dropped the first two games of his match and looked in trouble, but he earned a key break at 5-4 to even the match up, and then fought off two match points down 6-5. The first was a long hit by Daniel Krulig that just went long to his dismay. That sent it to deuce, and Krulig looked to have the upper hand. His shot to Abdulsalam’s forehand had him scrambling, and Krulig sent one across the court to his backhand. Abdulsalam returned it and it looked like an easy open court put away for the match, but the ball ticked the net and deflected past Krulig, sending the third set to a tiebreak.
It never finished though, as West ultimately fell 6-3 in his third set, that match finishing just as Abdulsalam was looking to put his away, up 7-6 and holding match point in his hands. It was that close of a match.
UNM was up 2-1 thanks to big wins by Dobai at No. 1 and Holis at No. 3. Holis was the first done, winning 6-3, 6-4 while Dobai blitzed his opponent James Davis 6-1 in the opening set. Dobai that rebounded from an early break to force a tiebreak at 6-6, winning 7-5.
NOTES: UNM will travel to Cal Poly on Monday … the Lobos lost all four matches to ranked opponents, but took nine points off them overall … Dobai’s win was his first of the season at No. 1 singles … Holis improved to 3-3 in singles, all at No. 3.
