(Photo courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics)
Tempe- On Friday, Arizona State men’s tennis swept the doubleheader against the Nevada Wolfpack and Grand Canyon Antelopes. Since the men’s tennis program’s reinstatement in 2016, after an eight-year hiatus, the Sun Devils are now 6-0 against the Antelopes.
In the first match, the No. 22-ranked Sun Devils (8-4) beat the Wolfpack (1-6) 5-2 and, in the second match, shut out the Antelopes (2-5) in a 4-0 victory.
“I thought the second match was better than the first one, especially in the doubles, better energy.” head coach Matt Hill said. “Fundamentally, there’s still some stuff to clean up for sure before next weekend’s tournament, but it’s definitely better in the second match.”
In the doubles match against the Antelopes, freshman Bor Artnak and senior Max Mckennon got off to a slow start but managed to gain momentum. Needing a couple of points to get the set and the game, Artnak came up with one of the most creative shots you will ever see.
After a couple of excellent returns, the Antelope on the left wing placed the ball on the front-right wing close to the out-of-bounds line, and as the ball began to travel out of reach, Artnack chased after it and hit an around-the-post shot, which is rarely ever seen in a tennis match.
“(Artnak) is a shotmaker for sure; he can make a lot of shots. As a coach, you’re like, ‘Oh wait,’ and then you’re like, ‘Oh okay, that works,’” head coach Matt Hill said. “He’s got an incredible feel of the ball, and he’s a special player.”
“It was one of the craziest shots that I’ve seen,” McKinnon said. “We were taking care of our serves pretty easily; it wasn’t a huge problem. We were able to get that break up 4-3, which was really helpful.”
After claiming the doubles point, the Sun Devils dominated in the singles matches, and Junior Murphy Cassone dominated his way to a 6-0, 6-3 against graduate student Pablo Carretero Salvador. Despite struggling slightly at the beginning of the second set, Cassone pulled it out and claimed the final point for the Sun Devils’ win.
“He’s playing really well, that guy (Salvador) is a really tough player. He is a very experienced fifth-year graduate from Spain and just really, really good on the ground.” Coach Hill said about (Cassone’s) performance. “(He) doesn’t give you anything on the ground and has great ball quality on both wings.
“He moves really, really well, so we knew it was going to be a tough challenge, and I thought (Cassone) did a nice job staying disciplined, staying inside of his game, not overplaying. But yeah taking the right aggression at the right moments. It is not easy to beat any player by that scoreline, especially a player of that caliber.”
“On deuce points, you gotta slow it down a little bit and just play to your strengths,” Cassone said. “ I let the guy make his move and see if he can make a play in a big moment. A lot of guys struggle with that, but make sure they can do it. You come out more offensive on the next couple of deuce points.”
The Sun Devils will host the ASU Tournament at Kiwanis Tennis Center in Tempe next weekend. The tournament will start on Friday, March 1, and end on Sunday, March 3. The times and opponents are to be determined.
