TEMPE, Ariz. – After a hard-fought battle with one of the top-ranked teams in the nation, No. 20 Arizona State men's tennis dropped a tough match against No. 3 Stanford, 4-3, on Thursday evening at the Whiteman Tennis Center.
Playing under the lights at home for the first time this season, the Devils (8-4) showed grit from early on after dropping their matchup on court three to fall behind early on in doubles play. The tandem of Makey Rakotomalala and Andrea Bolla took their match by a final of 6-2, notching their third win on the season as a pair.
It all came down to court one, with Michaël Geerts and Tim Ruehl in a back-and-forth affair with No. 58 Genender/ Kumar of Stanford. In front of a rowdy crowd at Whiteman, Geerts/Ruehl took a crucial third set to clinch the doubles point for the Devils, breaking a one-game losing streak for the pair.
"We're still trending in the right direction for sure," coach Matt Hill said. "We had some good wins in some tough spots, but there are razor thin margins for error when you play good teams like Stanford."
In singles play, No. 65 Geerts dropped his match on court one against No. 11 Tom Fawcett, 6-2 6-2. Stanford pulled out to a 2-1 lead soon after, with Thomas Wright falling to William Genesen, 6-3, 6-2.
Stanford extended their lead to 3-1 after No. 116 Rakotomalala dropped his match on court three, taking No. 76 Sameer Kumar into a competitive third set. The Frenchman lost his first set 3-6, but battled back to even the advantage by taking his second set 6-4. However, Kumar handed Rakotomalala a loss 4-6 in the third set to grab a point for the Cardinal.
With courts two, four and five all in decisive third sets, Bolla finished first on court five, defeating David Wilczynski 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 to nab the Devils' first singles point on the evening. The point was Bolla's second-straight win and provided serious momentum for ASU heading into the final two matches still in play.
Hannestad handed No. 36 Axel Geller a loss 2-6, 6-7, 7-5 on court two to even the score up at three apiece. Ruehl was the lone match still in action, his game the deciding point for Arizona State.
"The guy playing on court two for Stanford was the No. 1 guy in the world," Hill said. "He decided to go the college and was by far the best recruit in the United States, so for Ben to take him down in really, really, tough fashion shows a lot of mental toughness."
Ruehl battled until the very end, but Eric Fomba of Stanford came out on top, 2-6, 7-6 (7), 5-7.
"We'll be fine, but sometimes the guys forget that," Hill said. "It hurts and we'll grow from this and get better, but we just lost a regular season match to a team who's No. 3 in the country, not a national championship game."
The Devils are back in action on Saturday at 1 p.m. against California. Fans can follow the action on @SunDevilMTennis, and the match will also be live streamed on the ASU Live Stream.
NO. 3 STANFORD 4
NO. 20 ARIZONA STATE 3
Doubles Scores:
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1
Singles Scores:
Order of Finish: 1, 6, 3, 5, 2, 4
#Pac12AfterDark pic.twitter.com/4koOgBApBh
— Sun Devil M. Tennis (@SunDevilMTennis) March 9, 2018
Playing under the lights at home for the first time this season, the Devils (8-4) showed grit from early on after dropping their matchup on court three to fall behind early on in doubles play. The tandem of Makey Rakotomalala and Andrea Bolla took their match by a final of 6-2, notching their third win on the season as a pair.
It all came down to court one, with Michaël Geerts and Tim Ruehl in a back-and-forth affair with No. 58 Genender/ Kumar of Stanford. In front of a rowdy crowd at Whiteman, Geerts/Ruehl took a crucial third set to clinch the doubles point for the Devils, breaking a one-game losing streak for the pair.
"We're still trending in the right direction for sure," coach Matt Hill said. "We had some good wins in some tough spots, but there are razor thin margins for error when you play good teams like Stanford."
Devils clinch the doubles point off a big time performance from Geerts/Ruehl on court one! pic.twitter.com/ZgNaBoheJW
— Sun Devil M. Tennis (@SunDevilMTennis) March 9, 2018
In singles play, No. 65 Geerts dropped his match on court one against No. 11 Tom Fawcett, 6-2 6-2. Stanford pulled out to a 2-1 lead soon after, with Thomas Wright falling to William Genesen, 6-3, 6-2.
Stanford extended their lead to 3-1 after No. 116 Rakotomalala dropped his match on court three, taking No. 76 Sameer Kumar into a competitive third set. The Frenchman lost his first set 3-6, but battled back to even the advantage by taking his second set 6-4. However, Kumar handed Rakotomalala a loss 4-6 in the third set to grab a point for the Cardinal.
With courts two, four and five all in decisive third sets, Bolla finished first on court five, defeating David Wilczynski 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 to nab the Devils' first singles point on the evening. The point was Bolla's second-straight win and provided serious momentum for ASU heading into the final two matches still in play.
Hannestad handed No. 36 Axel Geller a loss 2-6, 6-7, 7-5 on court two to even the score up at three apiece. Ruehl was the lone match still in action, his game the deciding point for Arizona State.
"The guy playing on court two for Stanford was the No. 1 guy in the world," Hill said. "He decided to go the college and was by far the best recruit in the United States, so for Ben to take him down in really, really, tough fashion shows a lot of mental toughness."
Ruehl battled until the very end, but Eric Fomba of Stanford came out on top, 2-6, 7-6 (7), 5-7.
"We'll be fine, but sometimes the guys forget that," Hill said. "It hurts and we'll grow from this and get better, but we just lost a regular season match to a team who's No. 3 in the country, not a national championship game."
The Devils are back in action on Saturday at 1 p.m. against California. Fans can follow the action on @SunDevilMTennis, and the match will also be live streamed on the ASU Live Stream.
NO. 3 STANFORD 4
NO. 20 ARIZONA STATE 3
Doubles Scores:
- Geerts/Ruehl (ASU) def. No. 58 Genender/ Kumar (STAN) | 6-4
- Rakotomalala/Bolla (ASU) def. No. 27 Geller/Fawcett (STAN) | 6-2
- Sah/Wilczynski (STAN) def. Hennestad/Wright (ASU) | 6-2
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1
Singles Scores:
- No. 11 Tom Fawcett (STAN) def. No. 65 Michaël Geerts (ASU) | 6-2, 6-2
- No. 56 Ben Hannestad (ASU) def. No. 36 Axel Geller (STAN) | 6-4, 6-7 (4), 7-5
- No. 76 Sameer Kumar (STAN) def. No. 116 Makey Rakotomalala (ASU) | 3-6, 6-4, 4-6
- Eric Fomba (STAN) def. Tim Ruehl (ASU) | 2-6, 7-6 (7), 5-7
- Andrea Bolla (ASU) def. David Wilczynski (STAN) | 6-4, 3-6, 6-2
- William Genesen (STAN) def. Tom Wright (ASU) | 6-3, 6-2
Order of Finish: 1, 6, 3, 5, 2, 4