ELON, N.C. – After trailing by three games in his final set Thursday against Gardner-Webb, sophomore
Oskar Antinheimo stormed back to pull his match within striking distance for the
Elon University men's tennis team.
With the match score at 3-2 in favor of the maroon and gold – and with junior Juan Sengariz's third set seemingly headed toward a loss that would tie the score – it became clear that a comeback victory by Antinheimo would be the only path to an Elon win.
Knotted at one set apiece and trailing 6-5 in the final set, the stage was set for a dramatic finish for Antinheimo. The Finland native stepped to the service line for a deuce point and match point for the Bulldogs, which if Antinheimo faltered on would all but ensure a loss for the Phoenix.
"I enjoy to play [in] those moments," Antinheimo said.
Antinheimo fought tooth and nail for every ball in the deuce point, and after a lengthy rally, it looked like his opponent, Numa Lemieux-Monette, would get the best of him to bring Gardner-Webb one point closer to a victory. However, Antinheimo converted on an unlikely backhand passing shot, which head coach Michael Leonard called "the shot of the year," to save match point and force a tiebreaker, giving Elon a chance to walk away with a win.
"A little bit of fortune, but also, it's Oskar," Leonard said. "Oskar gives you a chance. He's one of the few guys that has that shot."
Antinheimo explained that while there was a bit of a guessing game on whether Lemieux-Monette was going to send the shot to his backhand side, he was pleased with the result, as he knew what he could do with an opportunity gifted to him in that manner.
"[I] kind of shanked the return and he attacked," Antinheimo said. "And then I guessed on my backhand side and then just hit it across the court."
With the backhand pass being one of his preferred shots, if not his favorite, Antinheimo said if he received the ball on the other side of the court, he would not have been as confident in his ability to finish off the point.
"I've hit that passing shot many times, it was just lucky he hit it to my backhand side," Antinheimo said. "If he hit to my forehand side, I don't know if I would have pulled through."
After falling behind 2-0 early in the tiebreak, Antinheimo leveled it at 3-3. After the changeover, he left no doubt, rattling off the next four points in a row to clinch the Elon victory, winning his match 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7-3).
When he won the tiebreak point to clinch, Antinheimo celebrated by shouting towards his fellow teammates. It was not long before they all rushed around him, equally giddy with excitement for his hard-fought victory. After joyously tossing his hat to the ground and lifting his shirt up to wipe the sweat from his face, he took a moment to catch his breath by leaning on the net.
Antinheimo said his play style involves a lot of exciting rallies. With that might come longer matches and maybe some extra exhaustion and treatment as well.
"I need to do some ice bath after," Antinheimo laughed.
As he headed back to the team huddle, resting his hands on his head, clearly still exhausted, he was greeted by Leonard who met him by dapping him up with a crisp handshake and authentic half-hug.
"He's not afraid of the moment. Win or lose, you know he's the guy you want out there, because he's going to give it all he's got," Leonard said.
With the win, Antinheimo has now racked up six singles wins this season, with his only loss coming by way of a second-set tiebreaker at No. 25 North Carolina. Elon's 4-3 record now puts the team above the .500 mark for the first time this year, marks its fourth consecutive victory and keeps its undefeated streak at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center intact.
"This is the first time we've been in a match like this at home," Leonard said. "We've won some of the other matches pretty comfortably, so I think it's good for us to have to be pushed like this."
'Rising Phoenix' is a new student-led initiative to cover Elon Athletics. Through innovative content creation and storytelling, Elon University students will have the opportunity to highlight the moments, people and events that make an impact, leveraging the athletic department's various web and social media platforms for distribution. Follow Rising Phoenix on Twitter (@EURisingPhoenix) and Instagram (@elonrisingphoenix). Interested in joining this initiative as a content creator (video, graphics, writing, storytelling, or more)? Contact Jacob Kisamore at jkisamore@elon.edu.
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