(Photo: Alex Roddier/WCSN)
Following a week off, Arizona State men’s tennis returns to action on the road on Friday, before wrapping up the weekend at home on Sunday afternoon. The team is slated to take on Texas A&M Friday in College Station, Texas, and then return to Tempe before facing No. 41 San Diego on Sunday.
The Sun Devils haven’t played at Whiteman Tennis Center since Feb. 2, and overall the team has played just two matches in the last three weeks.
Despite the lack of playing time, coach Matt Hill thinks the extended rest has produced other types of benefits for the team.
“It was a good period for our guys to recover and get in the gym to get some work done,” Hill said. “A lot of strength and conditioning work.”
The Sun Devils enter this weekend with a 3-4 record, but three of the team’s losses have come against then-top-20 ranked opponents. Including exhibition matches, ASU has played the top-three teams in the country in the 2019 season.
Most recently ASU dropped a match to No. 2 Ohio State (6-1), but Hill feels the intense competition may have helped his team grow.
“It was good to see Ohio State up close and personal,” ASU’s head coach said. “We knew they were good, they won the national indoor championship last week. We’re really pleased with how the boys competed.”
Something else that may be viewed as a positive sign from the Ohio State match was the play from graduate transfer Justin Roberts. The first-year Sun Devil defeated the Buckeyes’ Kyle Seelig, the No. 12 player in the country. Hill said that the win not only showed his resolve, but how hard he has worked since the start of the year.
“Justin’s playing really well,” Hill said. “He’s progressed well this past month, but it hasn’t been a surprise to us. He works really hard day-to-day and is a really focused kid.”
With the victory, Roberts entered the Oracle/ITA rankings at the No. 97 position. It also marked the first time Roberts has been ranked in his collegiate career.
Along with Roberts, the Sun Devils have the doubles tandem of Tim Ruehl/Andrea Bolla ranked at No. 22 and Nathan Ponwith/Dominik Kellosky at No. 51.
Following this important weekend for Hill and Co. ASU begins Pac-12 play with two matches from the Bay Area against No. 6 Stanford and No. 40 California.
Texas A&M:
ASU takes on Texas A&M on Friday at 5 p.m. MST.
Entering Friday’s match the Aggies’ record stands at 3-3, including a pair of losses to No. 13 Notre Dame and No. 16 Virginia.
Like the Sun Devils, Texas A&M didn’t have a match last week, but the team has dropped its last three matches. The Aggies haven’t played a match since Feb. 3.
Texas A&M has one player ranked in the Oracle/ITA rankings, sophomore Juan Carlos Aguilar, currently ranked No. 89 in the most recent rankings.
No. 41 San Diego:
ASU takes on the University of San Diego on Sunday at 2 p.m. MST.
The Toreros are at home against UNC Wilmington on Friday, before traveling Sunday for their sixth road match of the season against the ASU.
San Diego is 5-2 this season, but is yet to face a ranked team. The Toreros also suffered losses earlier in the season to Pac-12 schools No. 7 UCLA and Oregon.
San Diego doesn’t currently have any individuals or doubles ranked in the Oracle/ITA rankings, but entered the team rankings at No. 41, following the latest release on Jan. 20.
