STILLWATER, Okla. — Pepperdine men's tennis freshman Edward Winter pushed Tennessee junior Shunsuke Mitsui to a tiebreak first set, yet saw his season come to an end in the first round of the NCAA Singles Tournament in Stillwater, Okla. on Monday afternoon.
Battling temperatures over 90 degrees on the court and heavy, consistent winds, #37 Mitsui outlasted #51 Winter 7-6 (7), 6-3 in a match that featured serving in difficult conditions and a handful of long rallies Mitsui won at pivotal moments in the match.
As Mitsui struggled to find his serve in the wind, Winter looked like the more poised player early in the match. The Pepperdine freshman quickly went up a break on Mitsui, held on deuce point to consolidate the break, and then broke Mitsui on another deciding point in the fourth game. However, Mitsui finally found his footing in the fifth game and broke back, then a love hold made the score 4-2 after the sixth game. That seemed to spark Mitsui, who broke Winter again before putting the match back on serve thanks to winning two of the longest points of the match at the end of the eighth game.
The final two points of the eighth game appeared to be the inflection point for Mitsui and Winter. Putting pressure on Winter, Mitsui broke the Pepperdine freshman for a 5-4 lead, yet Winter responded by breaking back, which eventually brought the first set into a tiebreak.
The breaker was essentially a battle behind the service line. Winter took a 4-2 lead at the changeover thanks to two long service returns from Mitsui, but Mitsui's ace out of the changeover sparked a 3-0 run that gave him control of the tiebreak. Winter was gifted a double-fault for a 6-5 lead, yet was unable to shake the Tennessee junior, who eventually won the breaker on a double fault for the 7-6 (7) first-set win.
In the second set, Mitsui held serve in the first game and the set was played on serve until a pivotal sixth game. Winter fought off two break points in the sixth game before Mitsui broke through for a 4-2 lead, but Winter had one more chance to put the match back on serve in the seventh game. Winter won the first two points before Mitsui's double fault put Winter one winner away from breaking back Mitsui. Mitsui got on the board by winning the next point, then his second serve on the following point was barely called inbounds, giving Mitsui another chance to fend off break point. But Mitsui returned a backhand wide on the next point, which opened the door for Winter to make a comeback with the match back on serve.
Unfortunately for Winter, that momentum was short-lived. After Mitsui went up 40-15 in the following game, Winter fought off two break points — including one long point that saw him fend off several Mitsui groundstrokes up at the doubles line — to reach another deciding point, but this time Mitsui broke back for a 5-3 lead. From there, Mitsui held serve in the final game to win 7-6 (7), 6-3.
Winter's season ends as the West Coast Conference Freshman of the Year, a first-team all-conference nod in singles, plus postseason appearances in both the NCAA team and individual championships. He is the second player under current head coach Adam Schaechterle to play in the NCAA Singles Tournament. Meanwhile, Mitsui faces Wake Forest's Filippo Moroni, who exacted revenge from the NCAA semifinals with his upset over 2-seed Eliot Spizzirri of Texas, in tomorrow's second round.
RESULTS
Singles Round of 64
#37 Shunsuke Mitsui (TENN) def. #51 Edward Winter (PEPP) 7-6 (7), 6-3
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