FORT WORTH, Texas – Sun Devil men's tennis is back out on the road this weekend, this time to the Lone Star State for the 2019 ITA Kickoff Weekend.
The ITA held a draft over the summer in ranking order for teams to pick which site they'd like to compete at, and the then-No. 38 Sun Devils chose to the be the No. 3 seed at the Fort Worth site. They are joined by host No. 22 TCU, No. 20 Oklahoma State and Loyola Marymount.
The four-team bracket-style competition kicks off on Friday, as ASU takes on No. 20 OSU at 1 p.m. MST. Following a Sun Devil win, ASU will compete again the next day in the championship match against the winner of No. 22 TCU/LMU on Sunday at noon MST.
The winner of the tournament will earn an automatic bid to the 2019 ITA National Indoor Championships held in February in Chicago.
Coming off two tough losses on the road against Duke and No. 1 Wake Forest, the Sun Devils look to turn the tide in Texas. ASU dropped their match with Duke 4-3 despite an encouraging 3-0 early on after securing the doubles point and two-straight singles wins.
Tim Ruehl was named Pac-12 player of the Week for his efforts in North Carolina, going a perfect 2-0 in singles play and 1-1 in doubles play. His win over No. 80 Rrezart Cungu of Wake Forest 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 also represented his first career win over a ranked opponent.
Ruehl currently leads the team in wins with two, a feat that wasn't too surprising after a solid freshman campaign in 2018. Ruehl tied for second on the Sun Devils in total wins with 10, and tied for first place in match-clinching points with four. He was second in wins only to Michael Geerts (14) who graduated last May.
Showing a major improvement in doubles play so far, the Sun Devils again secured the doubles point against No. 1 Wake Forest to total two on the season in two matches. ASU hadn't achieved that feat until five games into last season.
The tandem of No. 22 Tim Ruehl and Andrea Bolla continued their winning ways at Duke, notching an easy 6-1 victory over Vincent Lin/Catalin Mateas. The German-Italian duo now hold a three-match win streak that dates back to the Tempe Collegiate Cup earlier this month and are 5-2 in their last seven matches together.
Transfers Dominik Kellovsky and Nathan Ponwith played a crucial role against No. 1 Wake Forest, clinching the doubles point in their 7-5 victory on court one in just their second match as a tandem. The duo made their debut in the Tempe Collegiate Cup against Mississippi State, defeating No. 36 Nuno Borges/Strahinja Rakic 7-5.
The Sun Devils' match against OSU will not have live stats or a live stream, while only the championship match on Sunday will entail a live stats or live stream.
The ITA held a draft over the summer in ranking order for teams to pick which site they'd like to compete at, and the then-No. 38 Sun Devils chose to the be the No. 3 seed at the Fort Worth site. They are joined by host No. 22 TCU, No. 20 Oklahoma State and Loyola Marymount.
The four-team bracket-style competition kicks off on Friday, as ASU takes on No. 20 OSU at 1 p.m. MST. Following a Sun Devil win, ASU will compete again the next day in the championship match against the winner of No. 22 TCU/LMU on Sunday at noon MST.
The winner of the tournament will earn an automatic bid to the 2019 ITA National Indoor Championships held in February in Chicago.
Coming off two tough losses on the road against Duke and No. 1 Wake Forest, the Sun Devils look to turn the tide in Texas. ASU dropped their match with Duke 4-3 despite an encouraging 3-0 early on after securing the doubles point and two-straight singles wins.
Tim Ruehl was named Pac-12 player of the Week for his efforts in North Carolina, going a perfect 2-0 in singles play and 1-1 in doubles play. His win over No. 80 Rrezart Cungu of Wake Forest 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 also represented his first career win over a ranked opponent.
Ruehl currently leads the team in wins with two, a feat that wasn't too surprising after a solid freshman campaign in 2018. Ruehl tied for second on the Sun Devils in total wins with 10, and tied for first place in match-clinching points with four. He was second in wins only to Michael Geerts (14) who graduated last May.
Showing a major improvement in doubles play so far, the Sun Devils again secured the doubles point against No. 1 Wake Forest to total two on the season in two matches. ASU hadn't achieved that feat until five games into last season.
The tandem of No. 22 Tim Ruehl and Andrea Bolla continued their winning ways at Duke, notching an easy 6-1 victory over Vincent Lin/Catalin Mateas. The German-Italian duo now hold a three-match win streak that dates back to the Tempe Collegiate Cup earlier this month and are 5-2 in their last seven matches together.
Transfers Dominik Kellovsky and Nathan Ponwith played a crucial role against No. 1 Wake Forest, clinching the doubles point in their 7-5 victory on court one in just their second match as a tandem. The duo made their debut in the Tempe Collegiate Cup against Mississippi State, defeating No. 36 Nuno Borges/Strahinja Rakic 7-5.
The Sun Devils' match against OSU will not have live stats or a live stream, while only the championship match on Sunday will entail a live stats or live stream.