The Rice men’s tennis team lost 4-3 to No. 8 Baylor in its home opener at the George R. Brown Tennis Center on Monday. Despite the defeat, Rice secured two wins against nationally ranked singles opponents.
Baylor started strong by winning the doubles point. Yair Sarouk and Kabeer Kapasi were defeated 6-1 by Connor Van Schalkwyk and Luc Koenig, while Tommy Czaplinski and Rafael Botran lost 6-2 on court three. The remaining doubles match with Petro Kuzmenok and Santiago Navarro was stopped with Rice leading 4-3.
In singles play, Rice pushed the match to the final court. Sarouk lost to Koenig 6-2, 6-4 on court five before Gabriel Porras scored a win for Rice with a 6-2, 6-2 victory. Kuzmenok tied the match at 2-2 after defeating No. 13 Devin Badenhorst 6-2, 6-4 on court one.
Baylor moved ahead when Botran fell to Zsombor Velcz 6-3, 7-5 on court two. Kapasi evened the score again for Rice by beating No. 73 Alexandru Chirita in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4 on court four. In the deciding match, Navarro was defeated by Van Schalkwyk, giving Baylor the overall win.
Rice will next compete in the Ralph O’Connor Rice Invitational starting March 6 against DePaul and later face UAB during the weekend.
###
