INDIAN WELLS, Calif. – Sun Devil men's tennis is back out on the road this weekend, heading to the Indian Wells Tennis Garden to take part in the 2019 Oracle Collegiate Tennis Challenge.
ASU returns to action after their first Pac-12 road trip of the season, jetting to the Bay Area to take on No. 5 Stanford and No. 31 California. The Sun Devils were due for a brief trip back to Tempe for a midweek matchup with Liberty, but rain forced ASU to cancel the match. They open the Collegiate Challenge against No. 13 Michigan on Friday morning at 8 a.m. MST.
Itching to get back into action, ASU looks to continue their successful doubles play this season. The Sun Devils have secured eight doubles points in their first 11 matches of the year, a feat the squad hadn't achieved until 17 games into 2018.
The pair of Andrea Bolla and Tim Ruehl have been hot as of late, riding a four-match winning streak into Indian Wells. Securing a No. 22 ranking in the first Oracle/ITA poll of the season, the tandem has remained on the list in every single poll since.
Currently on the list at No. 39, they are joined by No. 49 Dominik Kellovsky/Nathan Ponwith and No. 55 Makey Rakotomalala/Justin Roberts to have all three active pairs ranked by the ITA. ASU is the only Pac-12 school to achieve that feat and one of just four schools in Division I tennis to do so.
The Oracle Collegiate challenge is the collegiate leg of the BNP Paribas Open that began on March 4. The tournament features some of the biggest names in tennis including No. 2 Rafael Nadal, No. 4 Roger Federer and No. 8 John Isner on the men's side as well as No. 1 Naomi Osaka, No. 2 Simona Halep and No. 10 Serena Williams on the women's side.
The Sun Devils are familiar with the tournament, battling all the way to the championship match last season before bowing out to then-No. 39 Cal in a back-and-forth affair.
This time around the tournament again features some of the top college tennis programs in the country in No. 6 Baylor, No. 13 Michigan and No. 16 USC. ASU faces off against the No. 2-seed Wolverines in the first round beginning on Friday with first serve set for 8 a.m. MST.
The Wolverines hold a slight 2-3 series advantage over the Sun Devils since 1962, last facing off in 1997. Michigan currently sits at 8-2 in 2019 with losses coming from fellow collegiate challenge participant Baylor, 4-1, and then-No. 22 Alabama, 4-3. The squad has faced one Pac-12 opponent so far this season in Washington, gliding past the Huskies 5-2.
ASU can play a minimum of two games in the bracket-style tournament and as many as three. The Sun Devils will face either the winner or loser of the USC-Cornell match on Saturday morning with hopes to again play on Sunday.
Fans can keep up with the action all season long by following @SunDevilMTennis on Twitter.
ASU returns to action after their first Pac-12 road trip of the season, jetting to the Bay Area to take on No. 5 Stanford and No. 31 California. The Sun Devils were due for a brief trip back to Tempe for a midweek matchup with Liberty, but rain forced ASU to cancel the match. They open the Collegiate Challenge against No. 13 Michigan on Friday morning at 8 a.m. MST.
Itching to get back into action, ASU looks to continue their successful doubles play this season. The Sun Devils have secured eight doubles points in their first 11 matches of the year, a feat the squad hadn't achieved until 17 games into 2018.
The pair of Andrea Bolla and Tim Ruehl have been hot as of late, riding a four-match winning streak into Indian Wells. Securing a No. 22 ranking in the first Oracle/ITA poll of the season, the tandem has remained on the list in every single poll since.
Currently on the list at No. 39, they are joined by No. 49 Dominik Kellovsky/Nathan Ponwith and No. 55 Makey Rakotomalala/Justin Roberts to have all three active pairs ranked by the ITA. ASU is the only Pac-12 school to achieve that feat and one of just four schools in Division I tennis to do so.
The Oracle Collegiate challenge is the collegiate leg of the BNP Paribas Open that began on March 4. The tournament features some of the biggest names in tennis including No. 2 Rafael Nadal, No. 4 Roger Federer and No. 8 John Isner on the men's side as well as No. 1 Naomi Osaka, No. 2 Simona Halep and No. 10 Serena Williams on the women's side.
The Sun Devils are familiar with the tournament, battling all the way to the championship match last season before bowing out to then-No. 39 Cal in a back-and-forth affair.
This time around the tournament again features some of the top college tennis programs in the country in No. 6 Baylor, No. 13 Michigan and No. 16 USC. ASU faces off against the No. 2-seed Wolverines in the first round beginning on Friday with first serve set for 8 a.m. MST.
The Wolverines hold a slight 2-3 series advantage over the Sun Devils since 1962, last facing off in 1997. Michigan currently sits at 8-2 in 2019 with losses coming from fellow collegiate challenge participant Baylor, 4-1, and then-No. 22 Alabama, 4-3. The squad has faced one Pac-12 opponent so far this season in Washington, gliding past the Huskies 5-2.
ASU can play a minimum of two games in the bracket-style tournament and as many as three. The Sun Devils will face either the winner or loser of the USC-Cornell match on Saturday morning with hopes to again play on Sunday.
Fans can keep up with the action all season long by following @SunDevilMTennis on Twitter.