INDIAN WELLS, Calif. – On the final day of the Oracle Collegiate Challenge, Sun Devil men's tennis upset their second ranked opponent of the weekend behind the effort of Tim Ruehl's nail-biting win on court four. The German's match-clinching win gave ASU a 4-3 win over No. 31 Cal to take third place in the Collegiate Challenge on Sunday evening.
"When it comes down to Tim, we have a ton of confidence in him to finish matches," coach Matt Hill said. "He's so good under pressure, and you never see him nervous or tight. He's always playing good tennis and as long as he's constructing the tactics and points the right way, he's fine."
The Sun Devils fell behind early after the Bears took the doubles point off wins on courts one and two. All three courts got off to 2-1 leads, with No. 49 Nathan Ponwith/Dominik Kellovsky facing off against No. 11 Yuta Kikuchi/Jacob Brumm and No. 55 Justin Roberts/Makey Rakotomalala against No. 33 Paul Barretto/Can Kaya.
The Bears took a 6-3 victory over Roberts/Rakotomalala on two and then clinched the first point off a 6-3 win over Ponwith/Kellovsky on court one.
ASU shuffled their usual lineup a little with the return of Benjamin Hannestad who played in his first match since No. 41 San Diego.
"Ben played fantastic today because his opponent has been playing five all season-long and has been winning comfortably," Hill said. "Ben's been out a little bit after winning in a really big match for us against San Diego, and we trusted him to take care of business today. He did really well today up until he faced a little nagging injury in his third set, but he played really good tennis against a guy who's been beating a lot of good players."
Roberts made quick work of his opponent on court three, pulling out to an easy 6-2, 6-1 straight-set win in less than an hour. The Bahamian's win tied the overall score up at one a piece.
Cal took a win on court five to take a 2-1 lead, and improved on that lead with another win on six.
With their backs against the wall, all three remaining courts sat in match-deciding third sets. With the score 3-1, Ponwith sat with a 2-1 lead, Kellovsky was tied at five-all and Ruehl up two-love.
Kellovsky's match proved to be one of the most important, as the Czech-native went into a tiebreaker at 6-6 with Cal needing just one point to clinch the match. He kept the Sun Devils alive with a 7-5 win in his tiebreak, leaving it up to Roberts and Ruehl to clinch the win.
"Dominik's match had the most pressure because he was in a tiebreaker," Hill said. "It was one point or the other and he either wins or loses, and he did an unbelievable job to finish out the match. He lost his first set 6-0 and came out totally focused and had belief in himself."
Ponwith also stepped up big for ASU after rebounding from a second-set loss. The junior went up 4-2 early in that second set, but his opponent pulled the match to a 5-5 tie and eventually took the set from Ponwith, 7-5. Coming out rolling in the match-deciding set, Ponwith won three-straight games to take a 5-2 lead late. He took the third set 6-4 to set the table for Ruehl.
"He had four match points and really had total control of the match but it got away from him at the tail end," Hill said. "It took a lot of grit, heart and maturity from him to take a deep breath, zoom out and have a big picture persective."
At the time of Ponwith's win, Ruehl sat leading 4-3 on court four. He sat poised and came in clutch, winning two-straight games to take his match 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 to clinch the Sun Devil win.
"It's a great feeling when your player figures out his game plan and he sticks to it very well," Hill said. "He had the ability to execute it very well, and that gives you a ton of confidence."
Sun Devil men's tennis is back in action this upcoming weekend, heading to Texas to take on Baylor and TCU. First serve with the Bears is set for Friday at 4 p.m. MST while the Sun Devils and Horned Frogs are set for an 11 a.m. MST start on Sunday. Fans can keep up with the action all season-long by following @SunDevilMTennis on Twitter.
"When it comes down to Tim, we have a ton of confidence in him to finish matches," coach Matt Hill said. "He's so good under pressure, and you never see him nervous or tight. He's always playing good tennis and as long as he's constructing the tactics and points the right way, he's fine."
The Sun Devils fell behind early after the Bears took the doubles point off wins on courts one and two. All three courts got off to 2-1 leads, with No. 49 Nathan Ponwith/Dominik Kellovsky facing off against No. 11 Yuta Kikuchi/Jacob Brumm and No. 55 Justin Roberts/Makey Rakotomalala against No. 33 Paul Barretto/Can Kaya.
The Bears took a 6-3 victory over Roberts/Rakotomalala on two and then clinched the first point off a 6-3 win over Ponwith/Kellovsky on court one.
ASU shuffled their usual lineup a little with the return of Benjamin Hannestad who played in his first match since No. 41 San Diego.
"Ben played fantastic today because his opponent has been playing five all season-long and has been winning comfortably," Hill said. "Ben's been out a little bit after winning in a really big match for us against San Diego, and we trusted him to take care of business today. He did really well today up until he faced a little nagging injury in his third set, but he played really good tennis against a guy who's been beating a lot of good players."
Roberts made quick work of his opponent on court three, pulling out to an easy 6-2, 6-1 straight-set win in less than an hour. The Bahamian's win tied the overall score up at one a piece.
Cal took a win on court five to take a 2-1 lead, and improved on that lead with another win on six.
With their backs against the wall, all three remaining courts sat in match-deciding third sets. With the score 3-1, Ponwith sat with a 2-1 lead, Kellovsky was tied at five-all and Ruehl up two-love.
Kellovsky's match proved to be one of the most important, as the Czech-native went into a tiebreaker at 6-6 with Cal needing just one point to clinch the match. He kept the Sun Devils alive with a 7-5 win in his tiebreak, leaving it up to Roberts and Ruehl to clinch the win.
"Dominik's match had the most pressure because he was in a tiebreaker," Hill said. "It was one point or the other and he either wins or loses, and he did an unbelievable job to finish out the match. He lost his first set 6-0 and came out totally focused and had belief in himself."
Ponwith also stepped up big for ASU after rebounding from a second-set loss. The junior went up 4-2 early in that second set, but his opponent pulled the match to a 5-5 tie and eventually took the set from Ponwith, 7-5. Coming out rolling in the match-deciding set, Ponwith won three-straight games to take a 5-2 lead late. He took the third set 6-4 to set the table for Ruehl.
"He had four match points and really had total control of the match but it got away from him at the tail end," Hill said. "It took a lot of grit, heart and maturity from him to take a deep breath, zoom out and have a big picture persective."
At the time of Ponwith's win, Ruehl sat leading 4-3 on court four. He sat poised and came in clutch, winning two-straight games to take his match 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 to clinch the Sun Devil win.
"It's a great feeling when your player figures out his game plan and he sticks to it very well," Hill said. "He had the ability to execute it very well, and that gives you a ton of confidence."
Sun Devil men's tennis is back in action this upcoming weekend, heading to Texas to take on Baylor and TCU. First serve with the Bears is set for Friday at 4 p.m. MST while the Sun Devils and Horned Frogs are set for an 11 a.m. MST start on Sunday. Fans can keep up with the action all season-long by following @SunDevilMTennis on Twitter.