ASU Men’s Tennis: No. 47 Sun Devils take Territorial Cup upset triumph in Tucson

Photo: Patricia Vicente/WCSN

(Photo: Patricia Vicente/WCSN)

After a nail-biting, tie-breaking victory to clinch the doubles point, No. 47 Arizona State found itself in a hole after the conclusion of the first two singles matches. However, the team mustered enough strength to pull out three singles wins to defeat rival No. 25 Arizona in the Territorial Cup matchup for the second year in a row.

In front of a record-breaking crowd at the LaNelle Robson Tennis Center in Tucson, the rival squads put on a show that left everyone on the edge of their seats for the entirety of the contest.

“The crowd here was fantastic,” ASU coach Matt Hill said. “[Arizona] did a great job of making it an event. It was fun to be a part of a match like that.”

Before Saturday’s bout, both teams were looking for their first conference win after 0-2 starts in Pac-12 play. This come-from-behind victory was ASU’s second road win this year, and handed Arizona (14-4, 0-3 Pac-12) its first home loss of the season.

It was only last year that Arizona State (8-10, 1-2) defeated the Wildcats in Tempe in a 4-0 sweep to revive the rivalry. That was the first match between the two sides since 2008 (a match the Sun Devils also won), as ASU’s program was reinstated last season after being disbanded for financial reasons.

ASU continued its onslaught in doubles play – which has been its strength all season long boasting a 12-6 record in achieving the doubles point.

ASU fell into a hole early with a quick 6-1 loss on court two. However, the squad evened it up with the sophomore No. 56 duo of Tim Ruehl and Andrea Bolla staking out a huge 6-4 win on court three.

It came down to a suspenseful, action-packed tiebreaker on court one between ASU’s junior No. 18 tandem Nathan Ponwith and Dominik Kellovsky against Arizona’s freshman-sophomore duo Jonas Ziverts and Igor Karpovets to take the advantage heading into singles. Despite going down 3-6 in the breaker, the Sun Devils prevailed, thwarting the Wildcats in a 7-6(10-8) thriller.

“It was a tight match on every single court, even though some did get away from us,” Ponwith said. “It’s not easy to come down to the University of Arizona and beat them, so we’re happy we got the win.”

Maintaining the 1-0 advantage going into singles play, the Sun Devils lost two consecutive matches on courts five and six before coming back and winning three pivotal matches to triumphantly claim the Territorial Cup.

Ruehl was victorious on court four to even the match at 2-apiece. Then, Kellovsky extended his match into a third set after dropping the first, and edged out his opponent to propel the Sun Devils with a 3-2 lead. Kellovsky impressively clinched his match with a cheeky between-the-legs backhand shot which received raucous cheers from the crowd.

“To have success in front of a crowd like this, you have to remember to stay focused,” Kellovsky said. “We need to try to stay focused and play our game.”

Graduate transfer Justin Roberts clinched the match for ASU with a third set victory and continued his current hot streak, as this was his sixth consecutive singles win.

“I thought he did an incredible job because his opponent was a tough guy to play who has great serves,” Hill said.“To see him rebound, refocus and get back on track was huge. He did an unbelievable job today.”

The win marked ASU’s second in a row against its in-state rival since reinstatement last year. It’s also the program’s second victory over a top-25 opponent in that timeframe, both of which coming this season. Although it’s take some adjustment, the Sun Devils are playing a well-rounded brand of tennis, and it couldn’t come at a more pivotal time with a grueling Pac-12 slate on the horizon.

“[It was important] to have the ability to remain composed and win the matches on the line,” Hill said. “There are multiple times when you are looking at that scoreboard and thinking, ‘This is not going well.’ However, they never panicked and stayed mature about it.”

The Sun Devils catch a break from conference play in their next match with a midweek, Tuesday morning home contest against Delaware. This marks the sixth home match scheduled for ASU this season. An additional home match was scheduled back on March 12 against Liberty, but it got rained out.

Match Results:

No. 47 ASU vs. No. 25 Arizona (4-2 win)

Doubles

No. 18 Nathan Ponwith/Dominik Kellovsky (ASU) def. Jonas Ziverts/Igor Karpovets (UA) – 7-6(10-8)^
Filip Malbasic/Alejandro Reguant (UA) def. Makey Rakotomalala/Justin Roberts (ASU) – 6-1
No. 56 Tim Ruehl/Andrea Bolla (ASU) def. Jonas Maier/Stewart Block (UA) – 6-4

Order of finish: 2, 3, 1^

^Clinched point

Singles