WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – In a hard-fought battle against No. 6 seed Mikael Torpegaard, Michaël Geerts dropped his matchup, 6-2, 4-6, 2-6, on Wednesday evening in the First Round of the 2018 NCAA Men's Tennis Singles Championships.
Held at the Wake Forest Tennis Complex, the top-20 battle was a back-and-forth affair from the beginning. The unseeded Geerts and then-No. 2 Torpegaard of Ohio State had met once in the season before, with the Sun Devil downing the Buckeye, 7-6, 7-5, in March.
Representing the first Sun Devil since before at least 2004 to earn a nod as a single, Geerts took the first set by a commanding 6-2 score, taking a 2-1 lead early on and never looking back. Geerts took three-straight games to take the first set and opened his second set with the same intensity.
The second set proved to be much more of a back-and-forth matchup, with Torpegaard eventually evening the set advantage. Geerts took the first game, but Torpegaard came back to knot it up at one. Rain began to fall at the complex, prompting a rain delay that lasted over an hour-and-a-half.
"The rain definitely broke the momentum and gave his opponent some time to regroup mentally but that's just how things go sometimes," Hill said. "But unfortunately, you can't control it."
Both players took a little bit to heat up, and Geerts fell behind 5-3 and one point from going into a decisive third set. The Sun Devil scored four straight to take a game and make it 5-4, but the Buckeye took the game with a win 6-3 to head into the final set.
Torpegaard again came out ahead first, with Geerts playing from behind 1-3. In part by sharp returns and smart placement, Geerts was able to get within striking distance - down by just one at 2-3 - but ultimately fell in the third set, 2-6.
Held at the Wake Forest Tennis Complex, the top-20 battle was a back-and-forth affair from the beginning. The unseeded Geerts and then-No. 2 Torpegaard of Ohio State had met once in the season before, with the Sun Devil downing the Buckeye, 7-6, 7-5, in March.
Representing the first Sun Devil since before at least 2004 to earn a nod as a single, Geerts took the first set by a commanding 6-2 score, taking a 2-1 lead early on and never looking back. Geerts took three-straight games to take the first set and opened his second set with the same intensity.
"Geerts played a great first set early," coach Matt Hill said. "He was really in control of the match and just out playing his opponent."
Although it was Geerts' first time in the postseason, his opponent had an abundance of such experience as Torpegaard, a senior, was the runner up in the singles championship just a season ago. He was also an All-American in three of his four seasons at Ohio State.The second set proved to be much more of a back-and-forth matchup, with Torpegaard eventually evening the set advantage. Geerts took the first game, but Torpegaard came back to knot it up at one. Rain began to fall at the complex, prompting a rain delay that lasted over an hour-and-a-half.
"The rain definitely broke the momentum and gave his opponent some time to regroup mentally but that's just how things go sometimes," Hill said. "But unfortunately, you can't control it."
Both players took a little bit to heat up, and Geerts fell behind 5-3 and one point from going into a decisive third set. The Sun Devil scored four straight to take a game and make it 5-4, but the Buckeye took the game with a win 6-3 to head into the final set.
Torpegaard again came out ahead first, with Geerts playing from behind 1-3. In part by sharp returns and smart placement, Geerts was able to get within striking distance - down by just one at 2-3 - but ultimately fell in the third set, 2-6.
"After the rain delay, his opponent really made some good tactical adjustments and was in a much better place mentally," Hill said. "We countered some of those adjustments but in the end his opponent played really well down the stretch."
With the loss, Geerts will bow out of the tournament as one of the best men's tennis players in the country this season. One of only three players to notch wins over the top-2 ranked players in the country, Geerts finished the regular season with 13 wins in his last 16 matches. The Belgian also earned a No. 20 ranking in the final three weeks to become the highest ranked Sun Devil since No. 1 Sargis Sargisian in 1995.