Vols Open Tennis Season 2-0 at Home

Saturday, January 14

Knoxville, TN

2 PM

University of Tennessee

Eastern Kentucky

January 14, 2017 | Men's Tennis

Jan. 14, 2017

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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The Tennessee Volunteers opened the 2017 men's tennis season Saturday with 6-1 victories over Southern Illinois and Eastern Kentucky inside Goodfriend Tennis Center.

Freshmen Scott Jones and Luca Wiedenmann made their dual match debuts in the orange and white, both earning their first collegiate victories in singles and doubles.

The Vols (2-0) earned the doubles point and went on to win five of six singles matches against both Southern Illinois (0-1) and Eastern Kentucky (0-1).

"I thought is was a really good day of a tennis, a great start for us," Tennessee head coach Sam Winterbotham said. "We played two good teams on the first day, and we showed resiliency when things didn't go right, which is something we have stressed as a program. We had good confidence to finish out opportunities. I'm excited to see what we're talking about being executed in matches."

Wiedenmann, a native of Munich, Germany, went 2-0 in singles on courts 5 and 6, winning three of his four sets by 6-0 scores. That included a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Eastern Kentucky's Dan Lineberry..

While Wiedenmann played tournaments with the Vols last semester, Saturday's matches marked his first experience in a dual match atmosphere.

"I love it; everyone pushing each other is great," Wiedenmann said. "I've never had this experience before. In Germany, people more play for themselves, even when it's in team competition. Here, it's like a real team and everyone gives 100 percent for each other."

Sophomore Timo Stodder went a combined 4-0 on opening day, winning two singles matches at the top of the lineup and teaming up with Jones for a pair of victories on court 2. Stodder, who is a team-leading 13-4 this season, was first off the court against Southern Illinois with a 6-0, 6-2 win against Wilder Pimentel and fought back to beat Eastern Kentucky's Ramon van Flymen 7-5, 7-6(8).

"It's always exciting to get the season going and get those first wins as a team, also individually," said Stodder, who spent the break home in Germany training before returning to campus for preseason. "We are just looking forward to the next couple of matches. I'm honored that I can play at the top of the lineup and helping the team there, but we also have super guys at 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. I think our lineup's pretty solid."

Sophomore Srdjan Jakovljevic and senior Jack Schipanski both went 2-0 in singles on courts 3 and 4 respectively.

It was a whirlwind return for Jones, who landed in Knoxville on Friday night after playing in Australian Open qualifying earlier this week. He had earned a wild card into his home country's Grand Slam by capturing the Australian 18U national championship in December.

UP NEXT

The Vols play another doubleheader on Monday, taking on North Florida at 10 a.m. and Austin Peay at 2 p.m. Admission is free to Goodfriend Tennis Center and parking is available in Lot C-11.

"We're looking forward to North Florida," Winterbotham said. "They're a very good team, and we had a great match with them last year. They've got a lot of talent in that program. It'll be excited to see our guys get ready and come out with the same type of performance against North Florida and Austin Peay."

NOTES

The Vols are now 10-1 in season openers under head coach Sam Winterbotham.
Tennessee has faced Southern Illinois on opening day the last three years. The Vols and Eastern Kentucky have squared off in non-conference play in five of the last six seasons.
Saturday marked Scott Jones' 19th birthday.
With two wins Saturday, Jack Schipanski is riding into Monday's matches on a four-match winning streak dating back to October.

TENNESSEE 6, SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 1
Singles
1. Timo Stodder, UT, def. Wilder Pimentel, SIU, 6-0, 6-2
2. Piotr Baranski, SIU, def. Luis Valero, UT, 6-3, 3-6, [10-8]
3. Srdjan Jakovljevic, UT, def. Michal Kianicka, SIU, 6-2, 6-3
4. Jack Schipanski, UT, def. Alex Pozo, SIU, 6-4, 6-4
5. Scott Jones, UT, def. Daniel Martinez, SIU, 6-4, 6-4
6. Luca Wiedenmann, UT, def. Param Pun, SIU, 6-0, 6-4

Doubles
1. #26 Valero/Schipanski, UT, def. Kianicka/Baranski, SIU, 6-2
2. #47 Stodder/Jones, UT, def. Pimentel/Molloy, SIU, 6-3
3. Martinez/Pozo, SIU, def. Wiedenmann/Jakovljevic, UT, 6-1

Order of Finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (1,5,3,6,4,2).

TENNESSEE 6, EASTERN KENTUCKY 1
Singles
1. Timo Stodder, UT, def. Ramon van Flymen, EKU,7-5, 7-6(6)
2. Luis Valero, UT, def. Parth Aggarwal, EKU, 6-4, 6-2
3. Srdjan Jakovljevic, UT, def. Sebastian Mueller, EKU, 6-4, 6-2
4. Jack Schipanski, UT, def. Guillem Sanchis, EKU, 7-5, 6-4
5. Luca Wiedenmann, UT, def. Dan Lineberry, EKU, 6-0, 6-0
6. Romain Stoffels, EKU, ef. Sunay Bhat, UT, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2

Doubles
1. Van Flymen/Mueller, EKU, def. #26 Valero/Schipanski, 7-5
2. #47 Stodder/Jones, UT, def. Sanchis/Asis, EKU, 6-3
3. Wiedenmann/Jakovljevic, UT, def. Aggarwal/Stoffel, EKU, 6-2

Order of Finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (5,3,2,1,4,6).