INDIAN WELLS, Calif. - Despite struggling in its first two matches at the BNP Paribas Open Collegiate Tennis Challenge, the Purdue men's tennis team notched its fourth sweep of the season on the final day of play. Coming off of a 4-1 loss to South Florida on Saturday, the sixth-seeded Boilermakers quickly refocused to defeat Southern Methodist 4-0 Sunday inside the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. The victory and overall record mimics the program's performance in 2017, when Purdue finished 1-2 with a day three win over No. 45 Tulsa.
Against the Bulls, the Boilermakers jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead with wins on courts two and three in doubles. Freshmen Mateo Julio and Maksymilian Raupuk defeated Peter Bertran and Jakub Wojcik 6-4 at the second position, and upperclassmen Renan Hanayama and Dominik Sochurek bested Jourdan Kast and Pierre Luquet 6-2 at the third. However, the team would not find success again until doubles Sunday as South Florida rallied in singles on the top four courts. In order, Gergely Madarasz, Raupuk, Javier Rodriguez and Julio fell in straight-sets to the Bulls to give the seven-seed its first win of the tournament.
Head coach Pawel Gajdzik's squad would not be denied a third time, though. Facing the Mustangs, the Boilermakers again turned to strong doubles play to kickstart the team's tournament success. No. 39 Athell Bennett and partner Madarasz defeated Tomas Vaise and Jan-Simon Vrbsky 7-6 (7-5) at the first position, and Julio and Raupuk remained undefeated with a 6-4 win over Eladio Fabregas and Gardiner Perotti at the second.
In singles, Purdue's ranked tandem continued to lead the team with wins on the end courts. Bennett exited first, defeating Fabregas 6-0, 6-1 at the sixth, while Madarasz clinched the match for the Boilermakers at the first with a 6-3, 0-6, 6-2 victory over Vrbsky. Freshman Javier Rodriguez also earned a point in the dual, besting Michael Smith 6-3, 6-4 on court four in the second match off.
Up next, Purdue enters the heart of its Big Ten schedule with a road dual at Illinois. First serve is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET Sunday.