ASU Men’s Tennis: Sun Devils split ITA Kickoff Weekend after forfeit win

(Photo: Marie Obsuna/Sun Devil Athletics)

A week removed from dropping its first two matches, the Arizona State men’s tennis team traveled to Fort Worth, Texas, looking to break into the win column for the first time this season.

Although it wasn’t exactly conventional, the Sun Devils got the job done.

ASU (1-3 in non-conference play) lost its opening match of the weekend on Saturday to No. 20 Oklahoma State (4-1). However, the team was handed a forfeit win over Loyola Marymount on Sunday due to a “team-wide illness” as stated in a press release by Sun Devil Athletics. LMU (0-3) competed Saturday in a loss against No. 22 Texas Christian before forfeiting Sundays match.

ASU’s opening ITA Kickoff Weekend loss to the Cowboys went the full length of all six singles matches to decide a final winner. Another strong doubles performance gave the Sun Devils an early one-point advantage. Singles play commenced and ASU took back-to-back victories to push out to a 3-0 lead. However, the final four singles matches were pushed to third sets, and the Cowboys were able to come back and steal a 4-3 win.

This is the second time this season that ASU has led 3-0 and lost the match, having done so against Duke in its first contest of the season.

The Sun Devils’ doubles tandem of graduate transfer Justin Roberts and junior Makey Rakotomalala dominated the Cowboys’ pair in a 6-0 win. A court three victory from sophomores Tim Ruehl and William Kirkman punctuated the doubles victory.

The duo of Roberts and Rakotomalala has been a pairing that has reaped immediate benefits for the Sun Devils. The pair is now 3-0 playing in the No. 2 doubles spot, and has garnered the most success on the team this season. Ruehl is typically paired with sophomore Andrea Bolla (and the tandem is ranked No. 22 by Oracle/ITA), but Kirkman has filled in the last two matches.

The win also marked the third time in three matches that ASU has clinched the doubles point, including a strong victory last week against No. 1 Wake Forest.

But inconsistent singles play plagued ASU yet again in its loss.

The Cowboys responded to the three-point deficit by rattling off four straight singles victories to steal the win. The match-clincher came on court one as OSU senior Artur Dubinski defeated ASU junior Dominik Kellovsky in the third set, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

The Sun Devils fell out of the Oracle/ITA rankings in the Jan. 23 update after starting the year No. 24. If ASU hopes to climb back into the top-25, it will need to find a way to close out matches at a more effective clip.

A notable inactive for ASU was sophomore Benjamin Hannestad. The Denmark native played neither singles nor doubles and has only played one match this season for the Sun Devils (against Duke).

ASU continues to its season next weekend at home on Feb. 2 to take on Pepperdine at 1 p.m. MST.

Match Results:

ASU vs. No. 20 Oklahoma State (4-3 Loss)

Doubles

1. Dominik Kellovsky/ Nathan Ponwith (ASU) vs. No. 31 Emile Hudd/Maxim Tybar (OSU) – 5-2 (susp.)
2. Justin Roberts/Makey Rakotomalala (ASU) def. Artur Dubinski/Brady Draheim (OSU) – 6-0
3. Tim Ruehl/William Kirkman (ASU) def. Luke Hammond/ Mathieu Scaglia (OSU) – 6-2^

Order of finish: 2, 3^, 1 (susp.)

^Clinched doubles point

Singles

1. Artur Dubinski (OSU) def. Dominik Kellovsky (ASU) – 4-6, 6-3, 6-4*
2. Mathieu Scaglia (OSU) def. Nathan Ponwith (ASU) – 7-6(3), 7-6(6)
3. Maxim Tybar (OSU) def. Justin Roberts (ASU) – 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
4. Brady Draheim (OSU) def. Tim Ruehl (ASU) ­– 6-4, 6-3
5. Makey Rakotomalala (ASU) def. Luke Hammond (OSU) – 6-3, 6-3
6. William Kirkman (ASU) def. Emile Hudd (OSU) – 6-3, 7-5

Order of finish: 5, 6, 4, 2, 3, 1*

*Clinched victory

ASU vs. Loyola Marymount (Forfeit win)

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