No. 29 Cardinal Claims Tight Win Over Visiting No. 12 USC Men’s Tennis
STANFORD, CALIF. — The No. 12 USC men's tennis team wound up on the sour end of a string of tight road matches today, falling 4-3 at the hands of host No. 29 Stanford. USC snagged the doubles point and had a slim lead in doubles before the Cardinal gathered wins on the top two courts to get ahead of the Trojans. USC goes to 16-6 overall and to 4-2 in Pac-12 play with the loss.
Doubles came down to court two, where USC's pair of Stefan Dostanic and Bradley Frye had been perfect together all season. The Trojan duo held their ground again, securing the doubles point for USC with a 7-5 win. That had followed an opening 6-1 win at the top spot by USC's #2 Daniel Cukierman and Riley Smith and a 6-4 defeat for Ryder Jackson and Lodewijk Weststrate on court three in a tense tangle of doubles action.
Singles would stretch into an even tighter string of tests. USC's 1-0 lead would dissipate when Stanford's Tristan Boyer served up a rare loss to USC's Bradley Frye with a 6-4, 6-4 decision on court four. The rest of the matches would need three sets to decide. At the No. 3 position, USC's #87 Stefan Dostanic snagged the lead back for USC with a 2-6, 6-2, 7-5 comeback win over Alexandre Rotsaert. But the Cardinal fired right back, collecting a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win from #95 Arthur Fery over USC's #28 Riley Smith on court two. Then, at the top slot, Stanford's Axel Geller took the Cardinal to its first lead with a tough 7-6 (4), 2-6, 7-6 (2) victory over USC's #26 Daniel Cukierman. That left three-setters raging on courts five and six, where USC's hopes of a comeback remained intact with both Trojans getting up a break in their respective third sets. On court six, USC's Jake Sands stuck to his guns in his third set and snarled things up 3-3 on his 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-2 win over William Genesen. All eyes then turned to court five, where Stanford's Timothy Sah was making moves against USC freshman Lodewijk Weststrate. After tiebreakers decided the first two sets, Sah stepped things up and grabbed the clincher with a 6-7 (4), 7-5 (7), 7-5 comeback to net the 4-3 win for Stanford.
USC now returns home for its final regular-season match of the year, setting up to host rival UCLA at 3 p.m. on Friday (April 16) at Marks Stadium.
#29 Stanford 4, #12 USC 3
April 10, 2021 | Taube Tennis Center (Stanford, Calif.)
DOUBLES
(1) #2 Cukierman/R. Smith (USC) def. Geller/Rajesh (STAN) - 6-1
(2) Dostanic/Frye (USC) def. Boyer/Sah (STAN) - 7-5
(3) Fery/Rotsaert (STAN) def. Jackson/Weststrate (USC) - 6-4
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2
USC wins doubles point.
SINGLES
(1) Axel Geller (STAN) def. #26 Daniel Cukierman (USC) - 7-6 (4), 2-6, 7-6 (2)
(2) #95 Arthur Fery (STAN) def. #28 Riley Smith (USC) - 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
(3) #87 Stefan Dostanic (USC) def. Alexandre Rotsaert (STAN) - 2-6, 6-2, 7-5
(4) Tristan Boyer (STAN) def. Bradley Frye (USC) - 6-4, 6-4
(5) Timothy Sah (STAN) def. Lodewijk Weststrate (USC) - 6-7 (4), 7-6 (7), 7-5*
(6) Jake Sands (USC) def. William Genesen (STAN) - 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-2
Order of finish: 4, 3, 2, 1, 6, 5*