MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The No. 20 Sun Devils travel to Montgomery, Ala. to participate in the 70th Annual Blue Gray Tennis Classic, one of the most prestigious tournaments in the country.
"When you get a couple wins under your belt, there's a little more excitement and confidence," coach Matt Hill said. "We didn't see the results we wanted early on, but at the end of the day we created a difficult schedule early on on purpose."
The tournament has previously featured some of the most storied programs in the nation in the, including USC, Pepperdine, Notre Dame and Harvard. This year, Alabama, Arizona, Auburn, Boise State, Fresno State, Princeton and Rice will all make the trip to Montgomery. The Devils already have experience against Fresno State, as the Bulldogs traveled to Tempe for the ASU Invitational a few weekends ago.
The Devils open up the bracket-style tournament against Boise State on Friday afternoon at 12:30 p.m. CT, being chosen a No. 1 seed in the tournament. After the first match, ASU may return to action later that afternoon depending on the outcome of their first match.
ASU is coming off two huge wins in California against San Diego and Pepperdine, two very successful programs. The Toreros made it to the NCAA Tournament a year ago, and the Waves entered the match in control of a 9-1 overall record against ASU at home.
"It was a huge boost to us because San Diego has a really good team this year," Hill said. "Michaël Geerts handled the situation so professionally and tactically and did everything we had been talking about this season."
Pepperdine has also been a dominating presence in the West Coast Conference since the early 1990's, and ASU hadn't won at Pepperdine since the 1999 season before sweeping the match, 4-0, Sunday.
Follow the action on Twitter on @SunDevilMTennis, and check back on the tournament's website, BlueGrayTennis.com, for live scoring updates.
Rankings Are Here, Rankings Are Here!
ITA released its newest team ranking on Feb. 20, and the Devils debuted at No. 20 for the first time this season. After sweeping the ASU Invitational and their first road trip to San Diego and Pepperdine, the Devils are currently riding a five-game win streak.
During their streak, ASU has outscored their opponents 20-6, including a huge comeback victory against a solid San Diego team. The Toreros took the doubles point, but the Devils showed their resilience to the very end, winning four singles matches headlined by Michael Geerts' game-clinching matchup to take the victory.
Oracle/IT(YAY)
ITA released its second singles poll of the season on Feb. 20, and two Devils found themselves on the list. No. 56 Benjamin Hannestad and No. 65 Michael Geerts remained on the list after ranking 38 and 70, respectively, in last week's poll.
Hannestad nabbed the Devils a singles point against San Diego, defeating No. 74 Joel Gamerov in two sets, 6-2, 6-3. His match at Pepperdine was suspended in the second set, 6-1, 3-5, when the Devils clinched the match 4-0.
Geerts secured a win against San Diego as well, using three sets to hand Gui Osario a loss, 7-5, 3-6, 6-0. Stanford (5) and UCLA (4) are the only Pac-12 schools to have more players ranked by the ITA.
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 and began its season hosting No. 25 Duke, Big 12 champion TCU and SEC co-champion Texas A&M. Ohio State who has won the Big Ten title seven times, including a title in 2017.
Get to Know the Broncos
The Broncos roll into Montgomery 1-5, with their one win coming against Whitman at home in January by a final of 5-2. Boise State has also faced fellow Pac 12 foe Utah, taking on the Utes in Salt Lake, dropping the match 4-0.
Their one win against Whitman was a big victory, notching head coach Greg Patton his 800th career win. Patton has been at the helm of the Broncos in two seperate tenures since 1993, and is credited with turning the program into a national tennis power.
Mr. Worldwide(s)
With just one Devil from the United States, the men's tennis team is one of the most diverse teams within ASU Athletics. Every single Devil represents a different nation, as the nine men hail from nine different countries across the world: Italy, Belgium, Denmark, Switzerland, the Dominican Republic, France, Germany, the U.S. and Great Britain.
Thomas Wright, Will Kirkman, Benjamin Hannestad, Michael Geerts and Makey Rakotomalala arrived at Arizona State for the Spring 2017 semester, taking classes and practicing as a team before the team would officially become a program the following spring. The remaining four were all incoming freshman this fall, joining the team in August.
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.
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.
Rak It Up
Tied for most wins on the Devils with Tim Ruehl, Makey Rakotomalala opened up his ASU career in a big way. Rakotomalala owns a 5-2 singles record, including wins over No. 41 Jordi Arconada of Texas A&M, who participated in the French and U.S. Open along with Wimbledon as a junior.
Rakotomalala swept the ASU Invitational in singles, playing a third set only once on the weekend to glide past LMU, Fresno State and Cal Poly. The France native is the definition of clutch, as his singles win against LMU clinched the first victory for the Devils since disbanding as a program in 2008. Rakotomalala is 2-0 on the season against ranked opponents and and 2-1 in matches that go into three sets.
Issa Team Effort
All five Devil wins this season were clinched by five different Devils, showing the talent on the Devils from top to bottom.
Loyola Marymount - Makey Rakotomalala
Fresno State - Ben Hannestad
Cal Poly - Andrea Bolla
San Diego - Michael Geerts
Pepperdine - Tim Ruehl