(Photo: Mason Kern/WCSN)
The Arizona State men’s tennis team (13-8, 2-3 in Pac-12 play) fell to the UCLA Bruins (21-2, 6-0 in Pac-12 play) 4-2 in an evening match at the Whiteman Tennis Center in Tempe Friday night.
It was a tightly contested match midway through as the No. 33 Sun Devils clinched the doubles point and achieved one singles victory. However, the experience and overall prominence of the No. 2 Bruins proved too much for newly reinstated ASU, and UCLA stormed back to take four singles victories and the match as a whole.
Although the end result was a loss, ASU senior captain Michaël Geerts realized a monumental victory over the No. 1 ranked collegiate singles player in the country Martin Redlicki in straight sets. No. 27 Geerts started slow but found his rhythm midway through the first set; inevitably taking the solo win 7-5, 6-4.
Redlicki had only lost four times in singles play this season prior to his matchup with Geerts. He now maintains a 19-5 singles record this year, with five face-offs going unfinished.
“I really try to do my part on my court,” Geerts said. “Today in doubles and singles I played well and I was just happy that I could help the team. At the end we didn’t get the win, but of course for me personally confidence-wise it’s a good step forward. Hopefully I can give the team a few more wins in these next few weeks.”
The Bruins boasted two out of three of their doubles pairings in the Oracle/ITA national doubles rankings. Both of their ranked teams lost to the Sun Devils. Both ASU pairings of sophomore Makey Rakotomalala and freshman Andrea Bolla, as well as Geerts and freshman Tim Ruehl achieved victories over the No. 11 and No. 59 ranked Bruins doubles pairings respectively.
“The boys have looked good in doubles,” Hill said. “Overall I think they did a really good job playing with their strengths and the tactics that we’re asking of them to do in the big moments. It’s a big point for us as we move further into the season.”
After clinching the victory for ASU in its last road trip to the Pacific Northwest over Washington, Ruehl played a solid match over the Bruins’ No. 87 Logan Staggs. Ruehl was the only match to go unfinished after he stormed to a 6-1 first set victory. He lost the second set 3-6 but was competitive the entire way through.
“I think I started really good in singles,” Ruehl said “There were a few points where I was just a little bit unlucky… if we were to finish the match I would win. All in all, it wasn’t a bad match from me.
“I heard Tim played really well,” Hill said. “The coaches were really happy with what was going on there.”
The Sun Devils stay at home as they prepare to face the No. 16 USC Trojans on Sunday. That match is set for 1:00 p.m. MST.
Doubles
- Michaël Geerts/Tim Ruehl (ASU) def. No. 59 Martin Redlicki/Evan Zhu (UCLA) – 6-4
- Makey Rakotomalala/Andrea Bolla (ASU) def. No. 11 Austin Rapp/Keegan Smith (UCLA) – 6-4
- Bryce Perreira/Maxime Cressy (UCLA) def. Benjamin Hannestad/William Kirkman (ASU) – 6-2
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1*
*clinched the doubles point
Singles
- No. 27 Michaël Geerts (ASU) def. No. 1 Martin Redlicki (UCLA) – 7-5, 6-4
- No. 81 Evan Zhu (UCLA) def. No. 72 Benjamin Hannestad (ASU) – 6-4, 6-4
- No. 55 Keegan Smith (UCLA) def. Makey Rakotomalala (ASU) – 6-2, 6-3
- Tim Ruehl (ASU) vs. No. 87 Logan Staggs (UCLA) – 6-1, 3-6, 0-1 (susp.)
- Maxime Cressy (UCLA) def. Andrea Bolla (ASU) – 6-1, 6-4
- Connor Hance (UCLA) def. William Kirkman (ASU) – 6-4, 6-2
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1, 6, 5^, 4 (susp.)
^clinched the overall match
