SMU men’s tennis edged Cal 4-3 on the road as Georgi Georgiev sealed the win, Trevor Svajda stayed hot and the Mustangs kept climbing in ACC play.
SMU men’s tennis left California with something better than a split. The Mustangs left with a statement.
After a narrow loss at Stanford earlier in the weekend, SMU men’s tennis bounced back by beating Cal 4-3, grabbing a gritty road win that showed exactly why this team keeps hanging tough in the ACC.
The Mustangs are now 14-7 overall and 4-2 in conference play, and this one had just enough drama to make it memorable.
The day started the right way for SMU. The Mustangs grabbed the doubles point with authority, and that early edge turned out to be everything.
Trevor Svajda and Jerry Barton rolled to a 6-2 win on Court 2, continuing what has become one of SMU’s most reliable pairings.
They are now 8-1 together in doubles this season. After Cal answered on Court 1, Vikas Deo and Georgi Georgiev stepped in and slammed the door with another 6-2 result, locking up the first point and putting SMU in control.
Then came the grind. Cal kept punching back in singles, but the Mustangs had answers. Alex Finkelstein delivered one of the cleaner performances of the day, taking down Tiago Silva 6-2, 6-4 on Court 2. That gave Finkelstein a perfect 2-0 singles weekend in California and pushed his confidence in the right direction at exactly the right time.
Of course, Trevor Svajda did Trevor Svajda things. The nation’s No. 2 singles player battled through three sets to win on Court 1, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, extending his winning streak to six straight matches and improving to 15-1 in singles this season. When SMU needs a tone-setter, he keeps showing up.
But the final word belonged to Georgi Georgiev. With the match tied and everything hanging in the balance, Georgiev survived a brutal three-set fight against Timofey Stepanov and closed it out 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 on court three. That clincher capped a 2-0 singles weekend for Georgiev and moved him to 12-3 on the year.
It was SMU’s first win at Cal since 2004, which adds a little extra edge to the result.
Now the Mustangs head home for a two-week stretch, starting Friday against Miami, with momentum that feels very real.