March 14, 2003
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – After enduring several weather-related delays over two days, the 46th-ranked Notre Dame men’s tennis team finally completed its first round match at the Blue/Gray National Tennis Classic on Friday, bowing to No. 57 Tulsa, 4-3 at the Lagoon Park Tennis Center. It marks the sixth time this season the Irish have had a match decided by a 4-3 count, losing four of those nail-biters. Weather permitting, Notre Dame (4-7) will return to the courts Friday afternoon to face UAB in a consolation round match at the Blue/Gray Classic.
Senior tri-captain Brian Farrell (Lilburn, Ga./St. Pius X H.S.) was a double winner for the Irish against Tulsa, picking up victories in both the singles and doubles competitions. Farrell teamed with junior tri-captain Luis Haddock (Caguas, P.R./Notre Dame H.S.) for an 8-2 win at No. 2 doubles, then posted a 7-5, 7-6 (7-4) win at No. 4 singles over the Golden Hurricane’s Shunsuke Shimizu.
Not long after Farrell and Haddock secured their doubles win, the Irish locked up the doubles point when junior tri-captain Matthew Scott (Oakton, Va./International School of Paris) and sophomore Brent D’Amico (Castle Rock, Colo./St. Stephen’s Episcopal School) closed out an 8-4 triumph over UT’s Dustin Taylor and Ryan Livesay, the No. 55 doubles team in the nation, at the No. 1 flight. That would be the only competition that Notre Dame and Tulsa were able to complete on Thursday, as severe thunderstorms in the Montgomery area washed out the remainder of the day’s matches.
The teams came back on court Friday morning and quickly traded singles victories. Junior Nicolas Lopez-Acevedo (Guaynabo, P.R./Colegio Marista) chalked up win for the Irish at the No. 6 position, downing Tulsa’s Alek Charpanditis, 6-1, 6-3. However, Haddock stumbled at No. 1 singles, bowing to Livesay in straight sets (6-2, 6-2), which put the Golden Hurricane on the board. Farrell then pushed Notre Dame to the edge of victory with his second win of the day.
The remaining three singles matches all went to three sets, with the Irish winning the first set in two of those matches. Freshman Patrick Buchanan (Fullerton, Calif./Servite H.S.) jumped ahead at No. 5 over Tom Murray, but the Tulsa netter recovered to defeat Buchanan by a 4-6, 6-2, 6-0. The Golden Hurricane then evened the match at 3-3 when No. 66 Alejandro Tejerina pulled away from Scott in the third set to win, 6-1, 6-7 (6-8), 6-0. With the team outcome in doubt, all eyes turned to the No. 3 singles match between D’Amico and Taylor, who is ranked 96th in the nation. D’Amico won the first set, before Taylor rallied to win the second stanza. The third set came down to a tiebreaker, and the Tulsa junior came through in the end, notching a 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-2) victory, to give the Golden Hurricane their first-ever win over the Irish.
— ND —
#57 Tulsa 4, #46 Notre Dame 3
Blue/Gray National Tennis Classic — First Round
Singles
No. 1: Ryan Livesay (UT) d. Luis Haddock (ND), 6-2, 6-2
No. 2: #66 Alejandro Tejerina (UT) d. Matthew Scott (ND), 6-1, 6-7 (6-8), 6-0
No. 3: *#96 Dustin Taylor (UT) d. Brent D’Amico (ND), 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-2)
No. 4: Brian Farrell (ND) d. Shunsuke Shimizu (UT), 7-5, 7-6 (7-4)
No. 5: Tom Murray (UT) d. Patrick Buchanan (ND), 4-6, 6-2, 6-0
No. 6: Nicolas Lopez-Acevedo (ND) d. Alek Charpanditis (UT), 6-1, 6-3
Order of finish: 6, 1, 4, 5, 2, 3*
Doubles
No. 1: *D’Amico/Scott (ND) d. #55 Livesay/Taylor (UT), 8-4
No. 2: Farrell/Haddock (ND) d. Murray/Shimizu (UT), 8-2
No. 3: Lopez-Acevedo/Paul McNaughton (ND) vs. Chapanditis/Tejerina, abandoned
Order of finish: 2, 1*