For the second-straight weekend, @SunDevilMTennis will play in front of their home crowd as they welcome the No. 10 TCU Horned Frogs in a matinee matchup at the Whiteman Tennis Center.
After dropping a weekend set against two of the top programs in the country in No. 25 Duke and No. 7 Texas A&M, the Devils (0-2) finish up the month at home, playing the Frogs at 12 p.m. MST on Sunday, January 21.
"Naturally we are excited for this week of training to get prepared for TCU," coach Matt Hill said. "We know they have a very strong team and we are excited for the challenge. It's about positive change in specific areas over the next week, that's the most important thing for us."
LAST TIME OUT
The Devils welcomed No. 25 Duke and No. 7 Texas A&M to kickoff the spring season last weekend. The Devils vs. Devils matchup was a special matchup for both programs, as the Blue Devils were the last team the Sun Devils took on before Duke eliminated them from the NCAA tournament in 2008. Although ASU lost both matches (2-5 and 1-6, respectively) sophomores Makey Rakotomalala and Benjamin Hannestad proved to be bright spots. Rakotomalala finished the weekend 2-0 in singles and paired with Michaël Geerts to snag a doubles win on Saturday, while Hannestad got on the board with a singles win on Saturday.
SCOUTING THE FROGS
Back-to-back Big 12 tennis champions, the Frogs were again picked to win the conference in 2018. TCU has two of its players ranked by Oracle/ITA including No. 23 Alastair Gray, a top British junior who sat out last season due to NCAA transfer rules, and No. 31 Alex Rybakov, who was a 2017 ITA Singles All-American and made the Big 12's Singles First Team. The two are also a doubles pair, posting a 4-1 record in the fall and are ranked No. 13 in the Oracle/ITA Doubles poll. As a team, TCU returns three, including doubles All-American Reese Stalder, and welcomes five new players. After advancing to the Elite Eight for the second time in three seasons and eighth time overall in program history last season, TCU finished 22-5 marking the third straight season of 20-plus wins and swept the Big 12 regular season and tournament titles for the second straight season.
VS. THE FROGS
The Devils and Horned Frogs have faced off four times in program history, most recently in 2003. ASU is winless in all four matchups, with two loses coming at TCU and the other two at neutral sites at the HEB Invitational in Corpus Christi, Texas in 1984 and the Husky Invitational in Seattle in 2001. The Frogs were a nationally ranked team in two of the matchups, coming in at No. 7 in their 2001 match and No. 35 in 2003.
ORACLE/IT(YAY)
Two Sun Devils earned rankings in the Nov. 15 Oracle/ITA rankings in No. 44 Benjamin Hannestad and No. 51 Michaël Geerts. Both took command of the top two courts last weekend, as Geerts played both of his singles matches on court one (going 0-2 on the weekend) and Hannestad on court two (going 1-1 on the weekend). In the doubles realm, Hannestad and his partner Tim Ruehl also nabbed a ranking, topping out at No. 53.
RAK IT UP
The only Devil to go undefeated in singles on the weekend, Makey Rakotomalala opened up his ASU career in a big way. He and doubles partner Michaël Geerts glided past Duke's Nick Stachowiak and Sean Sculley 6-2, and then Rakotomalala followed that performance in singles by defeating Stachowiak again in two sets (6-4, 6-2) to earn the Devils' very first point since 2008. The France-native faced a daunting task Sunday, as he took on No. 41 Jordi Arconada, who participated in the French and U.S. Open along with Wimbledon as a junior. The two battled to the tune of two tiebreaker sets, but Rakotomalala came out on top (7-6, 2-6, 7-6).
UP HILL BATTLE
Coach Matt Hill is no stranger to adversity. Upon taking the helm at South Florida in 2012, the Bulls hadn't been to the NCAA Division I Championship since 2009. Hill's team finished 8-14 in his first season, but the tide quickly changed under his mentorship, as they compiled a 12-10 record the following year and then found themselves in the Championship for the first time in five years the next season. The team made it to the second round and were eliminated by Florida, but Hill's team made the tournament the next two years as well, finishing as high as the Sweet 16 in 2015. USF were back-to-back-to-back AAC Champions in Hill's final three years in Tampa, compiling a 82-47 record. He was a three-time American Conference Coach of the Year and mentored a three-time American Athletic Conference Player of the Year in Roberto Cid.
COACH HILL'S YEAR-BY-YEAR
Year: Record (Place in NCAA Tournament)
2012: 8-14 (DNC)
2013: 12-10 (DNC)
2014: 19-10 (AAC Champions // Second Round)
2015: 22-7 (AAC Champions // Sweet 16)
2016: 21-9 (AAC Champions // Second Round)
SOUTHWEST REGIONAL CHAMPIONS
The doubles pair of Benjamin Hannestad and Tim Ruehl won the 2017 ITA Southwest Regional Championship in the fall, and then Hannestad decided he wanted more and took home the singles title. Held at both Malibu's Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center and the Crest Tennis Courts and hosted by Pepperdine, Hannestad and Ruehl defeated Pedro Iamachkine and Lautaro Pane of Pepperdine 6-4, 6-3 to earn the doubles title, and then Hannestad closed the deal with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 win over Nicolas Moreno de Alboran of UCSB. USC and UCLA had dominated the tournament in the past, winning every singles titles since 2009 and five doubles championships. Hannestad defeated three Pac-12 competitors on the way to his singles title.
RECENT ITA REGIONAL SOUTHWEST CHAMPIONS
2017: Benjamin Hannestad (Arizona State); Benjamin Hannestad/Tim Ruehl (Arizona State)
2016: Gage Brymer (UCLA); Simond Freund/Morgan Mays (UCSB)
2015: Martin Redlicki (UCLA); Jordan Angus/Filip Vittek (San Diego)
2014: Mackenzie McDonald (UCLA); Mackenzie McDonald/Martin Redlicki (UCLA)
2013: Yannick Hanfmann (USC); Max de Vroome/Eric Johnson (USC)
2012: Marcos Giron (UCLA); Yannick Hanfmann/Eric Johson (USC)
2011: Ray Sarmiento (USC); Nikola Bubnic/Thibaut Visy (San Diego)
2010: Daniel Nguyen (USC); Amit Inbar/Nick Mesiter (UCLA)
2009: Amit Inbar (USC); Robert Farrah/Steve Johnson (USC)
REGIONAL CHAMPION NOTE
There were 12 ITA Regional Championships held Oct. 13-23, Benjamin Hannestad was the only player to win both a singles and doubles title in 2017. Others to do it in past three seasons are Skander Mansouri (Wake Forest/2016) and Sam Monette (Indiana/2015).
BRING IT ON
ASU is playing one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the nation in its comeback season, and that is something first-year mentor Matt Hill plans on making a tradition. The Sun Devils will face Big Ten champion Ohio State, Big 12 champion TCU, SEC co-champion Texas A&M and will begin its season hosting No. 25 Duke. ASU also will play Ohio State who has won the Big Ten title seven times, including its 2017 title.
After dropping a weekend set against two of the top programs in the country in No. 25 Duke and No. 7 Texas A&M, the Devils (0-2) finish up the month at home, playing the Frogs at 12 p.m. MST on Sunday, January 21.
"Naturally we are excited for this week of training to get prepared for TCU," coach Matt Hill said. "We know they have a very strong team and we are excited for the challenge. It's about positive change in specific areas over the next week, that's the most important thing for us."
LAST TIME OUT
The Devils welcomed No. 25 Duke and No. 7 Texas A&M to kickoff the spring season last weekend. The Devils vs. Devils matchup was a special matchup for both programs, as the Blue Devils were the last team the Sun Devils took on before Duke eliminated them from the NCAA tournament in 2008. Although ASU lost both matches (2-5 and 1-6, respectively) sophomores Makey Rakotomalala and Benjamin Hannestad proved to be bright spots. Rakotomalala finished the weekend 2-0 in singles and paired with Michaël Geerts to snag a doubles win on Saturday, while Hannestad got on the board with a singles win on Saturday.
SCOUTING THE FROGS
Back-to-back Big 12 tennis champions, the Frogs were again picked to win the conference in 2018. TCU has two of its players ranked by Oracle/ITA including No. 23 Alastair Gray, a top British junior who sat out last season due to NCAA transfer rules, and No. 31 Alex Rybakov, who was a 2017 ITA Singles All-American and made the Big 12's Singles First Team. The two are also a doubles pair, posting a 4-1 record in the fall and are ranked No. 13 in the Oracle/ITA Doubles poll. As a team, TCU returns three, including doubles All-American Reese Stalder, and welcomes five new players. After advancing to the Elite Eight for the second time in three seasons and eighth time overall in program history last season, TCU finished 22-5 marking the third straight season of 20-plus wins and swept the Big 12 regular season and tournament titles for the second straight season.
VS. THE FROGS
The Devils and Horned Frogs have faced off four times in program history, most recently in 2003. ASU is winless in all four matchups, with two loses coming at TCU and the other two at neutral sites at the HEB Invitational in Corpus Christi, Texas in 1984 and the Husky Invitational in Seattle in 2001. The Frogs were a nationally ranked team in two of the matchups, coming in at No. 7 in their 2001 match and No. 35 in 2003.
ORACLE/IT(YAY)
Two Sun Devils earned rankings in the Nov. 15 Oracle/ITA rankings in No. 44 Benjamin Hannestad and No. 51 Michaël Geerts. Both took command of the top two courts last weekend, as Geerts played both of his singles matches on court one (going 0-2 on the weekend) and Hannestad on court two (going 1-1 on the weekend). In the doubles realm, Hannestad and his partner Tim Ruehl also nabbed a ranking, topping out at No. 53.
RAK IT UP
The only Devil to go undefeated in singles on the weekend, Makey Rakotomalala opened up his ASU career in a big way. He and doubles partner Michaël Geerts glided past Duke's Nick Stachowiak and Sean Sculley 6-2, and then Rakotomalala followed that performance in singles by defeating Stachowiak again in two sets (6-4, 6-2) to earn the Devils' very first point since 2008. The France-native faced a daunting task Sunday, as he took on No. 41 Jordi Arconada, who participated in the French and U.S. Open along with Wimbledon as a junior. The two battled to the tune of two tiebreaker sets, but Rakotomalala came out on top (7-6, 2-6, 7-6).
UP HILL BATTLE
Coach Matt Hill is no stranger to adversity. Upon taking the helm at South Florida in 2012, the Bulls hadn't been to the NCAA Division I Championship since 2009. Hill's team finished 8-14 in his first season, but the tide quickly changed under his mentorship, as they compiled a 12-10 record the following year and then found themselves in the Championship for the first time in five years the next season. The team made it to the second round and were eliminated by Florida, but Hill's team made the tournament the next two years as well, finishing as high as the Sweet 16 in 2015. USF were back-to-back-to-back AAC Champions in Hill's final three years in Tampa, compiling a 82-47 record. He was a three-time American Conference Coach of the Year and mentored a three-time American Athletic Conference Player of the Year in Roberto Cid.
COACH HILL'S YEAR-BY-YEAR
Year: Record (Place in NCAA Tournament)
2012: 8-14 (DNC)
2013: 12-10 (DNC)
2014: 19-10 (AAC Champions // Second Round)
2015: 22-7 (AAC Champions // Sweet 16)
2016: 21-9 (AAC Champions // Second Round)
SOUTHWEST REGIONAL CHAMPIONS
The doubles pair of Benjamin Hannestad and Tim Ruehl won the 2017 ITA Southwest Regional Championship in the fall, and then Hannestad decided he wanted more and took home the singles title. Held at both Malibu's Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center and the Crest Tennis Courts and hosted by Pepperdine, Hannestad and Ruehl defeated Pedro Iamachkine and Lautaro Pane of Pepperdine 6-4, 6-3 to earn the doubles title, and then Hannestad closed the deal with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 win over Nicolas Moreno de Alboran of UCSB. USC and UCLA had dominated the tournament in the past, winning every singles titles since 2009 and five doubles championships. Hannestad defeated three Pac-12 competitors on the way to his singles title.
RECENT ITA REGIONAL SOUTHWEST CHAMPIONS
2017: Benjamin Hannestad (Arizona State); Benjamin Hannestad/Tim Ruehl (Arizona State)
2016: Gage Brymer (UCLA); Simond Freund/Morgan Mays (UCSB)
2015: Martin Redlicki (UCLA); Jordan Angus/Filip Vittek (San Diego)
2014: Mackenzie McDonald (UCLA); Mackenzie McDonald/Martin Redlicki (UCLA)
2013: Yannick Hanfmann (USC); Max de Vroome/Eric Johnson (USC)
2012: Marcos Giron (UCLA); Yannick Hanfmann/Eric Johson (USC)
2011: Ray Sarmiento (USC); Nikola Bubnic/Thibaut Visy (San Diego)
2010: Daniel Nguyen (USC); Amit Inbar/Nick Mesiter (UCLA)
2009: Amit Inbar (USC); Robert Farrah/Steve Johnson (USC)
REGIONAL CHAMPION NOTE
There were 12 ITA Regional Championships held Oct. 13-23, Benjamin Hannestad was the only player to win both a singles and doubles title in 2017. Others to do it in past three seasons are Skander Mansouri (Wake Forest/2016) and Sam Monette (Indiana/2015).
BRING IT ON
ASU is playing one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the nation in its comeback season, and that is something first-year mentor Matt Hill plans on making a tradition. The Sun Devils will face Big Ten champion Ohio State, Big 12 champion TCU, SEC co-champion Texas A&M and will begin its season hosting No. 25 Duke. ASU also will play Ohio State who has won the Big Ten title seven times, including its 2017 title.