(Photo: Marie Obsuna/Sun Devil Athletics)
Arizona State’s first week of non-conference play this season took it across the country to face a couple of tough teams in North Carolina.
ASU lost a 4-3 contest to Duke on Friday and then followed that up with a 5-2 loss against the defending NCAA Champion and No. 1 ranked Wake Forest on Saturday.
One of the main bright spots for the Sun Devils last weekend was the play of German sophomore Tim Ruehl, who went 2-0 in singles play including a victory over Duke’s senior Catalin Mateas in straight sets 7-6, 6-2. The German also notched his first ever victory over a ranked opponent when he defeated the No. 80 singles player in the Oracle/ITA rankings, Wake Forest sophomore Rrezart Cungu 2-6, 6-2, 6-2.
On Tuesday, Ruehl received the honor of Pac-12 Player of the Week. Ruehl is the first Sun Devil to achieve the task since last Feb. 27 when stand-out senior Michaël Geerts helped ASU sweep the Blue Gray Tennis Classic, also winning tournament MVP in the process. Ruehl is also only the seventh player in program history to receive the recognition.
A year ago, Ruehl got off to a similarly hot start winning his first five dual matches. During his freshman season, he went a combined 14-8 in singles play while also tying with then-freshman Benjamin Hannestad for most match-clinching points on the team with four.
Along with his stellar play for ASU, Ruehl has also been succeeding in the classroom as he was named to the Dean’s List in his first two semesters at the school.
This upcoming weekend, Ruehl and ASU (which recently fell from No. 24 out of the Oracle/ITA team rankings in the Jan. 23 update, but was one of six teams receiving votes) will travel to Fort Worth, Texas, in search of its first victory of the season. The Sun Devils will first face No. 20 Oklahoma State in the 2019 ITA Kickoff Weekend, and then take on either No. 22 Texas Christian or Loyola Marymount (depending on how the first days matches finish).
