(Photo: Mason Kern/WCSN)
The winless Arizona State men’s tennis team looks to turn its season around with the important ASU Invitational at the Whiteman Tennis Center in Tempe this Friday and Saturday.
The Sun Devils have dropped their first three matches this season to high-level teams. They lost their first match of the season 5-2 to Duke, a team that is currently ranked No. 20 in the ITA top-25 rankings. They then lost handily in their second match of the season 6-1 to current No. 6 Texas A&M, and following their defeat to the Aggies the Sun Devils dropped their most recent match to current No. 18, TCU on Jan. 21.
After the two-week layoff, the recently-reinstated program welcomes Loyola Marymount, Fresno State and Cal Poly to the ASU Invitational this weekend.
The team begins the Invitational with a morning tilt on Friday against Loyola Marymount at 10:00 AM MST. The Lions have had a fairly solid start to their season. Since losing to current No. 6 UCLA in their first match of the season, they have yet to give up a point in matches against the winless San Diego State Aztecs, UNLV Runnin’ Rebels and the New Mexico State Aggies.
The Sun Devils will then face Fresno State in their second match which is split between Friday evening and Saturday morning. In unusual fashion, ASU will compete against the Bulldogs in singles play first at 3 PM MST on Friday and will then play the doubles on Saturday morning if the match isn’t yet decided.
The Bulldogs have had a busy start to their season, already playing 8 matches. They sit at an impressive 6-2 right now, but have dropped their last two matches.
The final match for ASU this weekend is against Cal Poly at 1:00 PM MST on Saturday and could potentially be the toughest. Cal Poly is arguably the most battle-tested team that the Sun Devils will face this weekend. The Mustangs currently sit at 5-1. with wins over Fresno State, Pacific, Sacramento State, Georgia State, and San Diego State. Their only loss was a 7-0 drubbing at the hands of current No. 6 Texas A&M.
One of the biggest factors that has been haunting the Devils so far this season is their inability to get off to a good start by clinching the doubles point. They have yet to win a doubles point in their first three matches.
When asked following the team’s Tuesday practice how important securing the doubles point is for the team this weekend, Assistant Coach Michal Kokta explained the importance lies in “setting a tone.”
“If you go into the locker room up 1-0 as opposed to 1-0 down it makes a big difference in how we start the singles,” Kokta said.
Junior Makey Rotomakalala echoed Kokta sentiments saying, “We’re fixing the doubles now, especially the last two weeks because we’ve missed the last three doubles, said Rotomakalala.
However, Kokta feels that with the talent on this ASU team, relying on the doubles point shouldn’t be an absolute.
“I feel that we have the firepower to win four singles (matches) every day,” Kokta said.
Some positive news is that the team’s two-week break has helped keep the team healthy and fresh going into a long weekend of back-t0-back matches in two straight days.
Senior captain Michael Geerts said Tuesday the break has been been very helpful especially after the team dropped three matches to open the 2018 season. “Everyone’s working hard and working on some tactical stuff,” Geerts said.
After the Invitational, the Sun Devils will travel up to Southern California for their first road matches of the season against the University of San Diego and Pepperdine University.
