TEMPE, Ariz. - The Arizona State men's tennis team claimed a point in the Territorial Cup Series with a 4-0 sweep over the Arizona Wildcats on senior day. With the point, ASU now leads the series 7-6 after the Sun Devil women took a win from the Wildcats this afternoon in Tucson.
It's heating up at Whiteman Tennis Center ?? #BeatTheCats pic.twitter.com/ci5PminCAV
— Sun Devil M. Tennis (@SunDevilMTennis) April 21, 2018
The Devils (14-9, 3-4) jumped on Arizona early in doubles, claiming the win on court three behind Benjamin Hannestad and William Kirkman. The duo defeated Carlos Hassey and Filip Malbasic 6-3 to claim a 3-1 record in conference play and a team-best .750 winning percentage.
Senior Michaël Geerts and Pierre Louis Dodens debuted as double partners in the rivalry matchup, clinching the opening point 7-6 (2) over Jonas Maier and Alejandro Reguant. The doubles-clinching match was a back-and-forth affair, with the Devils duo tied with the Wildcats 1-1 early on. Working up to a 5-5 tie, Geerts/Dodens powered to a 6-5 lead and easily took the tie-breaking set by a score of 7-2.
The No. 45-ranked doubles pair of Makey Rakotomalala and Andrea Bolla went unfinished after a back-and-forth battle against Igor Karpovets and Aaro Pollanen. The battle on court one was suspended in the tiebreaker 6-6.
Geerts took his late momentum all the way to singles play where he powered to a victory on court one in a little under an hour. He won in straight sets on Saturday, taking down Igor Karpovets 6-3,6-3. The 20th-ranked Geerts notched win number 14 this spring, and is a staggering 8-2 in his last 10 matchups. The Belgian cracked the ITA/Oracle top-20 this week to become the highest ranked Sun Devil since No. 1 Sargis Sargsian in 1995, who won the Devils' lone singles NCAA National Championship that year.
Had to send the ?? off in style ?? pic.twitter.com/HocUcBIqZc
— Sun Devil M. Tennis (@SunDevilMTennis) April 22, 2018
No. 72 Hannestad defeated Aaro Pollanen 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 and tallied his 10th win of the season. His four conference wins are a team-best, and secured a 3-0 Devils lead with four singles matches still in play on courts three through six.
Makey Rakotomalala finished off the rivals from Tucson, downing Filip Malbasic 7-6, 6-3 in a high energy matchup. Rakotomalala improved to 13-9 on the season with two match clinching victories. The Frenchman pulled out to an early first set lead 4-1, but Malbasic fought back to knot things up at four. The two came to a stalemate 6-6 and headed into a tiebreaker, with Rakotomalala coming out on top to claim the advantage. Again at a tie 3-3 in the second set, Rakotomalala scored three straight points to pull out the victory and clinch the match for the Sun Devils.
Andrea Bolla had the upper hand against Alejandro Reguant in the second set before going unfinished 6-7, 6-5. William Kirkman battled back after dropping set one and forced a third set (3-6, 7-6(6), 0-0) prior to the conclusion of the match.
Pierre Louis Dodens took set one in a tiebreaker scenario and went unfinished 7-6(2), 3-3.
DOWN GOES ARIZONA ??
— Sun Devil M. Tennis (@SunDevilMTennis) April 21, 2018
The Sun Devils sweep the Cats 4-0 on Senior Day ???? pic.twitter.com/ZXlhG5aGtH
With the regular season coming to an end today, the Sun Devils travel to the Pac-12 Championships in Ojai, California. The event kicks off on Wednesday, with a bracket to be released Monday.
Arizona 0
No. 34 ASU 4
Doubles Finals:
1. No. 45 Rakotomalala/Bolla (ASU) vs. Karpovets/Pollanen (ARIZ) | 6-6 unf.
2. Geerts/Dodens (ASU) def. Maier/Reguant (ARIZ) | 7-6 (2)
3. Hannestad/Kirkman (ASU) def. Hassey/Malbasic (ARIZ) | 6-3
Order of Finish: 3, 2
Singles Finals:
1. No. 20 Michael Geerts (ASU) def. Igor Karpovets (ARIZ) | 6-3, 6-3
2. No. 76 Benjamin Hannestad (ASU) def. Aaro Pollanen (ARIZ) | 6-2, 4-6, 6-2
3. Makey Rakotomalala (ASU) def. Filip Malbasic (ARIZ) | 7-6, 6-3
4. Andrea Bolla (ASU) vs. Alejandro Reguant (ARIZ) | 6-7, 6-5 unf.
5. William Kirkman (ASU) vs. Trent Botha (ARIZ) | 3-6, 7-6 (6), 0-0 unf.
6. Pierre Louis Dodens (ASU) vs. Carlos Hassey (ARIZ) | 6-7 (2), 3-3 unf.
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2