DURHAM, N.C. – The No. 24 Arizona State men's tennis squad kicks off its 2019 season over 2,000 miles away from Tempe, traveling to North Carolina to take on Duke and the reigning national champion No. 1 Wake Forest on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
The Sun Devils and Blue Devils are familiar foes, as then-No. 25 Duke came to Tempe to compete against the unranked Sun Devils, a match ASU dropped 5-2. ASU looks to turn the tables in 2019, as Duke comes into the match unranked while the Sun Devils hold a No. 24 ranking.
ASU hasn't faced off against Wake Forest since 2003, when the Sun Devils took the match 4-3. ASU also holds the overall series record by a margin of 2-0.
The road trip represents the beginning of yet another season of tough scheduling by Coach Matt Hill, who made it a point last year to have his team go up against the best in the country. Hill kept the same mindset this season, as ASU competes against 14 teams either ranked in the top-25 or receiving votes in the Jan. 9 Oracle/ITA poll. This rough schedule includes four of the top-five teams in No. 1 Wake Forest, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Mississippi State and No. 5 USC.
To combat that tough schedule, Hill – whose squad had no seniors and one junior at the conclusion of last season – searched for upperclassmen who could contribute leadership and experience to a young Sun Devil squad. Transfers Dominik Kellovsky, Justin Roberts and Nathan Ponwith look to provide just that, with the latter two bringing valuable collegiate tennis experience to a mostly foreign team.
Kellovsky, who played two years of professional tennis before deciding to come to ASU, looks to bring his doubles experience to a squad that won less than half of the doubles points in 25 matches last season. The Czech-native amassed a career record of 115-85 in doubles play on the professional circuit with a career-high ranking of No. 405 achieved in July of 2018.
Roberts has the most collegiate experience of the nine-man roster, as he played three seasons – two of which were under Hill – at USF before deciding to follow Hill to Tempe for his last season of eligibility as a graduate transfer. Roberts brings postseason experience to the Sun Devils, as he helped the Bulls clinch their fourth-straight conference title with a singles win over UCF, and also advanced to the round of 16 at the NCAA tournament in doubles during his freshman season.
Scottsdale-native Ponwith comes to Tempe after he was the 2017 SEC Freshman of the Year and First-Team All-SEC as Georgia's court one in 2017. Ponwith set a SEC record for the most Freshman of the Week honors in a single season with five, and notched a 22-15 overall record with a team-best six match clinchers in 2017.
ASU also returns five of its starters from last season, losing just Michael Geerts, who exhausted his final year of eligibility in 2018. The Belgian has racked up two singles titles since embarking back into the pro circuit, winning the Rising Stars Tennis Tournament in August and the Waco Futures USTA Men's Collegiate Series in December.
Fans can keep up with the action of the matches in North Carolina through live stats on the Duke and Wake Forest websites.
The Sun Devils and Blue Devils are familiar foes, as then-No. 25 Duke came to Tempe to compete against the unranked Sun Devils, a match ASU dropped 5-2. ASU looks to turn the tables in 2019, as Duke comes into the match unranked while the Sun Devils hold a No. 24 ranking.
ASU hasn't faced off against Wake Forest since 2003, when the Sun Devils took the match 4-3. ASU also holds the overall series record by a margin of 2-0.
The road trip represents the beginning of yet another season of tough scheduling by Coach Matt Hill, who made it a point last year to have his team go up against the best in the country. Hill kept the same mindset this season, as ASU competes against 14 teams either ranked in the top-25 or receiving votes in the Jan. 9 Oracle/ITA poll. This rough schedule includes four of the top-five teams in No. 1 Wake Forest, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Mississippi State and No. 5 USC.
To combat that tough schedule, Hill – whose squad had no seniors and one junior at the conclusion of last season – searched for upperclassmen who could contribute leadership and experience to a young Sun Devil squad. Transfers Dominik Kellovsky, Justin Roberts and Nathan Ponwith look to provide just that, with the latter two bringing valuable collegiate tennis experience to a mostly foreign team.
Kellovsky, who played two years of professional tennis before deciding to come to ASU, looks to bring his doubles experience to a squad that won less than half of the doubles points in 25 matches last season. The Czech-native amassed a career record of 115-85 in doubles play on the professional circuit with a career-high ranking of No. 405 achieved in July of 2018.
Roberts has the most collegiate experience of the nine-man roster, as he played three seasons – two of which were under Hill – at USF before deciding to follow Hill to Tempe for his last season of eligibility as a graduate transfer. Roberts brings postseason experience to the Sun Devils, as he helped the Bulls clinch their fourth-straight conference title with a singles win over UCF, and also advanced to the round of 16 at the NCAA tournament in doubles during his freshman season.
Scottsdale-native Ponwith comes to Tempe after he was the 2017 SEC Freshman of the Year and First-Team All-SEC as Georgia's court one in 2017. Ponwith set a SEC record for the most Freshman of the Week honors in a single season with five, and notched a 22-15 overall record with a team-best six match clinchers in 2017.
ASU also returns five of its starters from last season, losing just Michael Geerts, who exhausted his final year of eligibility in 2018. The Belgian has racked up two singles titles since embarking back into the pro circuit, winning the Rising Stars Tennis Tournament in August and the Waco Futures USTA Men's Collegiate Series in December.
Fans can keep up with the action of the matches in North Carolina through live stats on the Duke and Wake Forest websites.