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The Rice Thresher
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by Eric Raub thresher staff
They had to wait even longer when the coaching staff decided to sit the brothers out against two inferior opponents Jan. 26. But the wait was well worth it. The brothers took the court Sunday at Jake Hess Tennis Stadium against the University of Texas at Arlington as the duo led Rice to an easy 6-1 victory. Richard Barker, playing in the top spot, was never seriously challenged in a 6-3, 6-2 win over 42nd-ranked Andy Leber. The win was Richard's second in a row over Leber, but it took Barker three sets to get past him in the Rice Indoor Invitational in mid-January. "Richard gave him an absolute lesson," assistant coach Shaheen Ladhani said. "To hold him to three and two was just great. Richard lost to Leber in the fall and has beaten him twice in the spring, which says a lot for Richard's form." Richard said the form of the win was not as important as getting the win itself. He saw it as a must-win situation and played accordingly. "I was really scrappy in the singles," he said. "I didn't play very well, I played well enough to win. It was one of those games where I knew I had to win." William Barker held on to beat Per-Erik Karlsson 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 at the No. 2 spot, establishing that the brothers will be a force at the top of Rice's lineup for years. But the Barkers weren't the only ones playing well. Rice dominated play from top to bottom, sweeping all three doubles matches, including an 8-1 rout by the Barker brothers at the No. 1 spot. "We've had close matches with them in the last two years," Ladhani said. "But this year it was different. We came out completely focused and never really let them get in the game." Sophomore Matthias Mathaes, who has spent most of his time at the top spot, capitalized on his drop to No. 3 and overwhelmed Ola Bentzen 6-4, 6-0. Juniors Alexis Pourchet and Fabien Giraud wrapped up the win at the five and six spots, beating their opponents in straight sets as well. "It could have been a real dogfight if we had let it, but our concentration never wavered," Ladhani said. "Here and there were ebbs and flows but on the whole we never wavered." The lone Owl loss of the day came when freshman Vuk Rajevac lost the second set at No. 4 and was unable to recover in the third. "He lost the second set and then he talked himself out of the match," Ladhani said. "He needs to work on mental toughness and control." There was bad news as Pourchet suffered the Owls' first injury of the spring season. He has a deep bruise on his leg which seemed to be getting worse, and doctors are looking at it this week. "It was hurting in his match but he played through it and played very well," Ladhani said. "Right now it looks like they have caught the problem early enough to avoid that situation. He may even be able to play this weekend." The Owls have yet to be tested in dual match play and face two more unranked opponents tomorrow, when the University of Nebraska and the University of Texas at San Antonio come to Jake Hess. Tuesday, the Owls face their first ranked opponent, 44th-ranked University of Louisiana at Lafayette. If the Owls can head to Louisiana 5-0 and beat the Ragin' Cajuns, they are bound to improve their No. 71 ranking. It would also help them carry a lot of momentum into matches against other upcoming ranked opponents. The Owls say they're ready to test themselves against the best. "We've proven ourselves with big wins," Qamer said. "We've beaten some good teams. They're not as strong as some of our other [opponents], but I think we're ready to step up and prove that we belong in the same league as the top 10 teams."
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