George Washington University Athletics
George Washington University
Maryland
Colonials Fall to Maryland in Season Opener, 6-1
1/29/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Jan. 29, 2011
COLLEGE PARK, MD -- GW men's tennis matched up against a tough No.70 Maryland Saturday, falling 6-1 in the Colonials' season opener.
"We knew we may be facing our toughest opponent of the year in our season opener but we also felt like we could compete toe to toe and defeat the #70 terrapins," said head coach Greg Munoz. "We have three solid doubles teams, who fought hard but couldn't keep up the intensity the entire match."
At No. 3 doubles, Viktor Svensson and Richard Blumenfeld worked together against Maryland's Tommy Laine and Jesse Kiuru. Svensson battled through an injury but the GW duo fell to UMD, 8-5.
The Colonials started the singles matches down 1-0, after the Terrapins swept the doubles matches.
Senior co-captain Christopher Kushma secured the Colonials only victory at No. 3 singles, avenging a loss from last season to Sergio Wyss, in a tough three-set match, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
Junior Ugur Atalay went toe-to-toe with Maryland's No. 36 ranked player Maros Horny at No. 1 singles. Atalay won the first set 6-3, and battled against Horny but fell in three sets.
Freshman Ulrik Thomsen was inserted into the line-up for the Colonials at No. 6 singles for Svensson. Thomsen forced a first-set tiebreaker against Kiuru, but dropped the match, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4.
"Ulrik also showed great heart after a disappointing fall, losing at No. 6," said Munoz. "Ulrik has great weapons and strength. Once he understands how to play at this level, he can become a great asset to the colonials."
GW will begin preparing for their three upcoming weekend matches. The Colonials take on Old Dominion on Friday, Feb 4, at 2:00 p.m. in Norfolk, VA. Men's tennis will take on James Madison on Saturday with matches set to start at 2:00 p.m., and wrap up the weekend clashing against East Carolina on Sunday at the Montclair Country Club in Woodbridge, VA.
Players Mentioned
