Krstic completed Elon’s comeback win against Campbell

BUIES CREEK, NC The Elon University men’s tennis team battled back from a 3-1 deficit against Campbell on Tuesday and won the final three matches to earn a 4-3 comeback win on the road.

BOX SCORE (PDF)

Freshman Oskar Antinheimo tied the score at 3-3 by winning Court 6 before the freshman Veljko Krstic beat Phoenix with a dramatic last-set win on Court 6.

“We were down all day and to see some of our young guys step up and get into the game was great for us,” the head coach. Michael Leonard said.

SUMMARY

• Elon lost a tight double to fall behind 1-0. Ben Zipay improved to 2-0 on the season in doubles with a 6-2 win on Court 3 alongside Nicholas Condos. However, the camels won Court 1 and the deuce Nicholas Campbell and Ahmed Hosni fell in a tiebreak on Court 2.
• Nicholas Campbell tied the match 1-1 and won 6-4, 6-3 at No. 2. The win was Campbell’s second of the season and second in a row.
• Camels won the next two matches played on courts 4 and 5, leading 3-1. Hosni fell to Campbell’s Benjamin Maes in the third round at No. 4 and Condos dropped a competitive contest at No. 5 against Leon Petko.
• We need wins in the last three singles matches to win, Daniel Martin got things started for Elon with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 win on Court 1 against Damien Nezar. The win was Martin’s 11th^thin his last 13 singles matches and first final since April 14, 2022 against UNC Greensboro.
• Oskar Antinheimo tied the match at 3-3 and beat Gustavs Lukstins 6-4, 7-6 on court 6. The freshman has now won three straight singles matches at No. 6 and is tied with Martin for the team record three. wins this season.
• In the balance of the match result on Court 3, freshman Veljko Krstic fought back for the win in the third set against Campbell’s Lukas Steffento to secure the comeback win for Phoenix. Krstic won the first set 6-3, but dropped a tight tiebreak in the second. He responded in the final frame, winning it 6-4 to earn his second career singles victory and Elon’s second straight victory.
• It was Elon’s first win since a 4-3 loss against Coastal Carolina on March 15, 2022, and its first comeback win from a 3-1 deficit since the 2019 Colonial Athletic Association championship game against UNC Wilmington.
• With the result, Elon improved to 2-2 on the season.

NEXT

• Elon will face No. 14 North Carolina on Sunday at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center. The match starts at 14:00
• Phoenix then returns home for three straight matches at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center, as the maroon and gold take on Longwood on February 15 at 2 p.m. before a dual against Shaw and Georgia State on the 18th. February.

SCORE
Singles

1. Daniel Martin (Elon) def. Damien Nezar (Campbell) 6-4, 4-6, 6-1
2. Nicholas Campbell (Elon) def. Tomas Balazi (Campbell) 6-4, 6-3
3. Veljko Krstic (Elon) def. Lukas Steffen (Campbell) 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-4
4. Benjamin Maes (Campbell) def. Ahmed Hosni (Elon) 6-2, 3-6, 6-0
5. Leon Petko (Campbell) def. Nicholas Condos (Elon) 7-6 (4), 6-4
6. Oskar Antinheimo (Elon) def. Gustavs Lukstins (Campbell) 6-4, 7-6 (3)

Double up

1. Thomas Balazi/Leon Petko (Campbell) def. Oskar Antinheimo/Daniel Martin (Elon) 6-3
2. Damien Nezar/Benjamin Maes (Campbell) def. Nicholas Campbell/Ahmed Hosni (Elon) 7-6 (3)
3. Nicholas Condos/Ben Zipay (Elon) def. Luke Steffen/Noah Macquart (Campbell) 6-2

Finish order: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (2,4,5,1,6,3)

–ELON–