The No. 5 North Carolina men’s tennis team (7-0) remained undefeated after sweeping No. 11 TCU (3-3) on Sunday, 6-0, in Fort Worth, Texas.
What happened?
Doubles seemed to give the Tar Heels some trouble as it became "a bit tricky at the end" in the words of junior Benjamin Sigouin.
Sigouin and first-year Rinky Hijikata were the first to finish on Court 3, winning 6-3. But things got more complicated when TCU claimed a victory on Court 1 as doubles partners William Blumberg and Brian Cernoch fell 6-4 to No. 34 Alastair Gray/Jacob Fearnley. With each team picking up a win, all eyes landed on Court 2, the home of No. 3 duo Simon Soendergaard and Mac Kiger.
The two had previously led 5-2 before losing four straight sets. During Kiger’s serve, the two kept the game alive and forced it into a tiebreaker. Despite trailing 3-2 at the beginning, Kiger and Soendergaard eventually cliched the doubles point for North Carolina.
With only five courts available at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center, Soendergaard had to wait for a court to become available before he could start. For a majority of the courts, it was a slow start with close first matches. But for Blumberg, he quickly finished his first set with a 6-1 victory. However, in the second set, the senior forced it to seven points, ultimately winning 7-5 and allowing Soendergaard to begin his match.
Cernoch was the next Tar Heel to finish by winning 6-4 in straight sets. No. 60 Sigouin, a team captain, clinched the win for UNC on Court 2. After forcing his first set into a tiebreaker and winning, Sigouin quickly got into a rhythm and started "dictating" the match.
Hijikata and No. 80 senior Josh Peck both sent their singles matches into the third set. The first-year won 4-6, 6-2, 2-1 after his opponent, No. 122 Tadeas Paroulek, retired. As for the senior, Peck was the final Tar Heel to finish with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 win, leaving Soendergaard without the chance to complete his first set.
