ASU Men’s Tennis: Stiff Competition Leads to Tough Results in Weekend Season Opener

(Photo: Marie Obsuna/Sun Devil Athletics)

Arizona State went on the road for its first matches of the 2019 season seeking two things: revenge on a Duke team who beat it on its home court last season and upset the reigning National Champions and No. 1 Wake Forest.

They achieved neither.

The No. 24 Sun Devils (0-2 non-conference) first trekked to Durham, North Carolina, to face Duke. Last year, when the Blue Devils were ranked No. 25, ASU was handed a home loss in its first match since being reinstated after a 10-year hiatus. This year, the Sun Devils came out strong by pushing out to a 3-0 lead, only to have it squandered as the remaining four singles matches went deep into third sets. Duke (2-0) mounted the comeback and escaped with a 4-3 victory sweeping the home-and-home series with the Sun Devils.

Doubles play has been consistent for ASU early in its new season. Last year, it took ASU five matches before achieving two doubles points in season play. That task can already be checked as complete, as the squad won the doubles point in both matches this weekend.

ASU sent out one Oracle/ITA ranked pairing in the sophomore tandem of No. 22 Tim Ruehl and Andrea Bolla. The duo had success handily defeating Duke’s pairing 6-1. Another tandem that has been paired since the beginning of dual-match play at the friendly Tempe Collegiate Classic tournament, graduate transfer Justin Roberts and sophomore Makey Rakotomalala, went 2-0 in the doubles helping the Sun Devils claim the elusive point in both matches.

Hoping to build on the momentum of a 1-0 lead against the nation’s No. 1 collegiate tennis team, ASU went with a slightly different lineup into singles than what it had produced against Duke. Bolla was replaced with junior Nathan Ponwith, playing on court two, after not participating in the loss to Duke. Sophomore Benjamin Hannestad was also switched for fellow sophomore William Kirkman after losing his singles match the day before.

The Demon Deacons (3-0) stormed through singles play notching four straight victories to seal the match at 4-1. However, both programs elected to finish the remaining two matches, and ASU gained one more victory to make the final score 5-2.

One individual standout for ASU over the weekend was sophomore Tim Ruehl. The German went 2-0 in singles play after beating Duke’s court four in straight sets and achieving his first singles victory over a ranked player in Wake Forest’s sophomore No. 80 Rrezart Cungu. Ruehl’s victory was one of the bright spots that ASU will take from a weekend in which it left points to be desired.

Cungu was one of four singles players Wake Forest has ranked by the Oracle/ITA. Not only is it the No. 1 team in the country, but the No. 1 singles player also is a Demon Deacon, and senior Petros Chrysochos came to play. ASU’s junior court one Dominik Kellovsky took on the task of facing the top-ranked Chrysochos, but fell in straight sets 6-1, 6-3.

ASU next travels to Fort Worth, Texas for the 2019 ITA Kickoff Weekend. The Sun Devils will be in search of their first victory of the 2019 season against Oklahoma State, and will then play another match against either Texas Christian or Loyola Marymount.

 Match Results:

 No. 24 ASU vs. Duke (4-3 Loss)

Doubles

1. Dominik Kellovsky/William Kirkman (ASU) vs. Nick Stachowiak/Spencer Furman (Duke) – 4-4 (susp.)
2. Justin Roberts/Makey Rakotomalala (ASU) def. Sean Sculley/Jason Lapidus (Duke) – 6-3^
3. No. 22 Tim Ruehl/Andrea Bolla (ASU) def. Vincent Lin/Catalin Mateas (Duke) – 6-1

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

^Clinched doubles point

Singles

1. Nick Stachowiak (Duke) def. Dominik Kellovsky (ASU) – 7-5, 4-6, 6-4
2. Spencer Furman (Duke) def. Justin Roberts (ASU) – 5-7, 6-4, 6-4*
3. Sean Sculley (Duke) def. Andrea Bolla (ASU) – 5-7, 6-3, 6-3
4. Tim Ruehl (ASU) def. Catalin Mateas (Duke) ­– 7-6(4), 6-2
5. Makey Rakotomalala (ASU) def. Robert Levine (Duke) – 6-4, 6-2
6. Vincent Lin (Duke) def. Benjamin Hannestad (ASU) – 5-7, 6-1, 7-5

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

*Clinched victory

No. 24 ASU vs. No. 1 Wake Forest (5-2 Loss)

Doubles

1. Dominik Kellovsky/Nathan Ponwith (ASU) def. Petros Chrysochos/Bar Botzer (Wake Forest) – 7-5^
2. Justin Roberts/Makey Rakotomalala (ASU) def. Morgan Dill/Julian Zlobinsky (Wake Forest) – 7-5
3. Siddhant Banthia/Melios Efstathiou (Wake Forest) def. Tim Ruehl/William Kirkman (ASU) – 6-1

Order of finish: 3, 2, 1^

^Clinched doubles point

Singles

1. No. 1 Petros Chrysochos (Wake Forest) def. Dominik Kellovsky (ASU) – 6-1, 6-3
2. No. 25 Bar Botzer (Wake Forest) def. Nathan Ponwith (ASU) – 5-7, 6-3, 6-1
3. No. 39 Melios Efstathiou (Wake Forest) def. Justin Roberts (ASU) – 6-4, 6-2*
4. Tim Ruehl (ASU) def. No. 80 Rrezart Cungu (Wake Forest) – 2-6, 6-2, 6-2
5. Julian Zlobinsky (Wake Forest) def. Makey Rakotomalala (ASU) – 6-4, 6-3
6. Siddhant Banthia (Wake Forest) def. William Kirkman (ASU) – 6-1, 6-2

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

*Clinched victory

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