Pac-12 announces tennis players of the week

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. - USC junior Yannick Hanfmann was named the Pac-12 Men’s Tennis Player of the Week and CALIFORNIA senior Anett Schutting was voted the Women’s Tennis Player of the Week for play from April 15-21, the Conference office announced today. 

Hanfmann (Karlsruhe, Germany) was vital to USC’s home victory over rival UCLA this week, posting a doubles win as well as a straight-set singles upset victory over the nation’s top-ranked player, Clay Thompson. After an 8-4 doubles win on court on with teammate Ray Sarmiento, Hanfmann knocked off No. 1 Thompson with a 6-4, 7-5 win that took the Trojans to a 2-1 lead over the Bruins, en route to a final score of 4-2. The dual-match win secured an undefeated Pac-12 finish for the Trojans, who carry a 16-match win streak into the Pac-12 Tournament where they secured the top seed. The win over Thompson improved Hanfmann to 18-5 overall in singles play this season, while he and Sarmiento are now 13-1 together in doubles play. 

Schutting (Tallinn, Estonia) clinched No. 10 California’s 7-0 win over Sacramento State on Cal’s senior day and also played a big part in the Golden Bears’ 6-1 upset victory over rival Stanford later that week that clinched the Pac-12 Championship title for Cal. Against Sacramento State, Schutting and teammate Lynn Chi, who form the 70th-ranked doubles team, knocked off Olivia Boija/Sophie Lohscheidt, 8-3, before Schutting topped Boija in singles, 6-3, 6-1, to secure the Bears’ win over the Hornets in her last regular-season match at home. Two days later, Schutting and Chi upset the ninth-ranked team of Kristie Ahn and Carol Zhao, 8-6, to clinch the doubles point at Stanford. Schutting, ranked 23rd in singles, then beat the 19th-ranked Zhao with a score of 6-3, 7-6(2) as Cal captured its first outright Pac-12 Conference title. 

Both teams, along with the other Pac-12 men’s and women’s tennis teams, head to Ojai, Calif., this weekend to compete in the Pac-12 Tennis Championships. The tournament, which takes place alongside the 114th Ojai Tournament, kicks off Wednesday for the men and Thursday for the women. The men’s team tournament championship as well as the women’s singles and doubles championship matches will be broadcast on Pac-12 Networks. 

For more information, including a complete schedule, visit www.pac-12.com. 

Also Nominated: 
Men’s: Naoki Takeda, ARIZ; Jayson Amos, ORE; John Morrissey, STAN. 
Women’s: Lacey Smyth, ARIZ; Kristie Ahn, STAN. 

2014 Tennis Players of the Week