DURHAM, N.C. – Arizona State men's tennis opened the 2019 season in Durham, dropping a tightly contested match with the Duke Blue Devils, 4-3, on Friday night at the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center.
"We still have a lot of work to do on our end as a team to get to where we want to be," Coach Matt Hill said.
The Sun Devils and Blue Devils faced off in their season-opener for the second-straight season, with ASU dropping last year's match 5-2. The Sun Devils proved to be leaps and bounds more competitive this time around, jumping out to a 3-0 lead early on.
It started in doubles play when No. 22 Andrea Bolla/Tim Ruehl proved victorious first, taking their match over a tandem from Duke, 6-1. The newly minted pair of Makey Rakotomalala/Justin Roberts finished shortly thereafter to put ASU up with their 6-3 win. The clinch left Dominik Kellovsky/William Kirkman unfinished on court one at a 4-4 tie.
Leading 1-0, ASU rolled their hot start into singles play, taking early first-set leads on four of six courts. The Sun Devils eventually won their first set on five of six courts, and for the second-straight season Rakotomalala secured the first singles point of the year for the Sun Devils in his 6-4, 6-2 win over Robert Levine. Last season, the Frenchman defeated Nick Stachowiak of Duke for the Sun Devils first point since reinstatement in 2017.
The tempo slowed down a little for ASU after Rakotomalala's quick singles victory, as Kellovsky, Roberts, Bolla and Benjamin Hannestad all went into third sets while Ruehl steadily fought in his second set. The German took the match in straight-sets over Catalin Mateas, 7-6, 6-2 to pull the Sun Devils out to a 3-0 lead.
The final four matches in play all remained extremely competitive, but the Sun Devils ultimately dropped the remaining four matches to fall, 4-3.
Up next, the Sun Devils drive about an hour west to Winston-Salem to take on the reigning national champions and current top-ranked squad Wake Forest. First serve is set for approximately 4:30 p.m. MST, and fans can follow along with live stats here or by following @SunDevilMTennis on Twitter.
"We still have a lot of work to do on our end as a team to get to where we want to be," Coach Matt Hill said.
The Sun Devils and Blue Devils faced off in their season-opener for the second-straight season, with ASU dropping last year's match 5-2. The Sun Devils proved to be leaps and bounds more competitive this time around, jumping out to a 3-0 lead early on.
It started in doubles play when No. 22 Andrea Bolla/Tim Ruehl proved victorious first, taking their match over a tandem from Duke, 6-1. The newly minted pair of Makey Rakotomalala/Justin Roberts finished shortly thereafter to put ASU up with their 6-3 win. The clinch left Dominik Kellovsky/William Kirkman unfinished on court one at a 4-4 tie.
Leading 1-0, ASU rolled their hot start into singles play, taking early first-set leads on four of six courts. The Sun Devils eventually won their first set on five of six courts, and for the second-straight season Rakotomalala secured the first singles point of the year for the Sun Devils in his 6-4, 6-2 win over Robert Levine. Last season, the Frenchman defeated Nick Stachowiak of Duke for the Sun Devils first point since reinstatement in 2017.
The tempo slowed down a little for ASU after Rakotomalala's quick singles victory, as Kellovsky, Roberts, Bolla and Benjamin Hannestad all went into third sets while Ruehl steadily fought in his second set. The German took the match in straight-sets over Catalin Mateas, 7-6, 6-2 to pull the Sun Devils out to a 3-0 lead.
The final four matches in play all remained extremely competitive, but the Sun Devils ultimately dropped the remaining four matches to fall, 4-3.
Up next, the Sun Devils drive about an hour west to Winston-Salem to take on the reigning national champions and current top-ranked squad Wake Forest. First serve is set for approximately 4:30 p.m. MST, and fans can follow along with live stats here or by following @SunDevilMTennis on Twitter.