ASU Men’s Tennis: Tempe Collegiate Classic Reveals Reloaded Sun Devil Roster

(Photo: Marie Obsuna/Sun Devil Athletics)

It may not have counted toward the team’s overall record, but the inaugural edition of the Tempe Collegiate Classic proved that Arizona State’s success last season was no fluke.

The No. 24 Sun Devils played host to three teams ranked by the Oracle/ITA over the weekend: No. 14 TCU on Thursday (5-1 loss), No. 16 Illinois on Friday (4-2 win) and No. 3 Mississippi State on Saturday (3-3 tie). Technically, ASU managed a 1-1-1 record at the end of the tournament, but the matches were counted as friendlies and all teams’ records will remain unfazed.

However, the matches did affect the individual players’ records for Oracle/ITA rankings purposes.

The strategy of scheduling tough competition to start the season is similar to last year’s approach when ASU started its season against No. 25 Duke, No. 7 Texas A&M and No. 10 TCU. However, the contrastingly positive results to start this year compared to the 0-3 start a year ago reveal the rumblings of a program that has the makings of a perennial powerhouse.

“It’s always good to start the year off with elite competition,” ASU coach Matt Hill said. “We want to be pushed, to really challenge the guys and get them excited.”

ASU enters its second campaign since getting disbanded in 2008 for financial reasons without the services of its ace Michaël Geerts due to graduation. However, the Sun Devils reloaded with three fresh faces via transfer: graduate transfer Justin Roberts from USF, junior Nathan Ponwith from UGA and junior Dominik Kellovsky from B.I.B.S. BRNO International Business School in the Czech Republic.

“We’re super excited for those guys,” Hill said. “Those guys are incredible players, they’re experienced, they know the game really well. They’ve beaten a lot of high-level guys before ever even showing up here (at ASU). You can’t put a price tag on those three assets that are adding to this group that we already have returning.”

Ponwith, a Scottsdale native, returns to his hometown school with the most success of the three transfers on the collegiate circuit. He was the 2017 SEC Freshman of the Year and made the First-Team All-SEC roster as Georgia’s court one phenom posting a 22-15 overall record (10-7 SEC) and recording a team-best six match clinchers. He also set a SEC record for most Freshman of the Week honors with five.

That success carried over into his first matches as a Sun Devil as he went an undefeated 3-0 in singles play in the tournament. Playing on both courts five and four, Ponwith defeated the No. 67 (MSU) and 69 (TCU) singles players in the nation as ranked by Oracle/ITA en route to his weekend sweep.

“It’s awesome,” Ponwith said of playing his first matches as a Sun Devil. “I knew we would have a lot of energy, but you never really know what to expect without doing it. And it was really awesome to get out here in Tempe and have some fans come out and be around the guys. It was fun to lineup with the guys and compete.

“I think I had a good weekend. Definitely a lot of room to improve, a few things I can work on. But I think overall it was a very positive weekend for me and I’m looking forward to keeping it going.”

Doubles play also proved successful for ASU as it secured the important point in two of the three matches against Illinois and Mississippi State. The Sun Devils sent out one Oracle/ITA ranked pairing in the sophomore tandem of No. 22 Tim Ruehl and Andrea Bolla, who went 2-1 on the weekend.

“The doubles is starting to look better and better,” Hill said. “There are still a lot of pieces out there that are available to us to move this to another level. Some positives obviously, but a lot of work to do on our end.”

Bolla was concise in his personal evaluation of the weekend. However, the overall result is something he thinks the program can build on.

“Not my best tennis at all,” Bolla said despite going 2-1 in both doubles and singles play. “But tennis players never play their best tennis actually, so it’s also good to win ugly. And eventually it gives you some confidence for the other matches.”

Having achieved a NCAA Tournament berth in its debut season last year, expectations are high for ASU’s potential in 2019. Stringing together favorable results against top competition is exactly what Hill and the Vice President for University Athletics Ray Anderson had in mind when they reinstated the program.

“We’re wanting to see how they stack up against those teams and where we’re getting exposed so we can work on that stuff early before the Pac-12 and NCAA (matches),” Hill said. “We’re wanting their eyes to shift on what the level looks like on the very top. We don’t want them to ever be surprised when they get into Pac-12 play or NCAA play.”

Match Results:

No. 24 ASU vs. No. 14 TCU (5-1 Loss)

Doubles

1. Alex Rybakov/Alastair Gray (TCU) def. No. 22 Tim Ruehl/Andrea Bolla (ASU) – 6-3
2. Reese Stalder/Bertus Kruger (TCU) def. Justin Roberts/Makey Rakotomalala (ASU) – 7-6

Singles

1. No. 14 Alex Rybakov (TCU) def. Justin Roberts (ASU) – 6-2, 6-1
2. Reese Stalder (TCU) def. Makey Rakotomalala (ASU) – 6-4, 7-6
3. Luc Fomba (TCU) def. Andrea Bolla (ASU) – 6-4, 6-4
4. Alastair Gray (TCU) def. Tim Ruehl (ASU) – 6-2, 7-6(4)
5. Nathan Ponwith (ASU) def. No. 69 Eduardo Roldan (TCU) – 7-5, 6-1

No. 24 ASU vs. No. 16 Illinois (4-2 Win)

Doubles

1. Caleb Chakravarthi/Gui Gomes (Illinois) def. Benjamin Hannestad/Dominik Kellovsky (ASU) – 7-5
2. Justin Roberts/Makey Rakotomalala (ASU) def. Zeke Clark/Siphosothando Montsi (Illinois) – 6-1
3. No. 22 Tim Ruehl/Andrea Bolla (ASU) def. Noe Khlif/Vuk Budic (Illinois) – 6-3

Singles

1. No. 92 Zeke Clark (Illinois) def. Justin Roberts (ASU) – 6-3, 6-4
2. Tim Ruehl (ASU) def. Siphosothando Montsi (Illinois) – 6-3, 6-2
3. Andrea Bolla (ASU) def. Vuk Budic (Illinois) – 6-2, 6-5
4. No. 90 Noe Khlif (Illinois) def. Makey Rakotomalala (ASU) – 6-3, 6-4
5. Nathan Ponwith (ASU) def. Caleb Chakravarthi (Illinois) – 6-2, 4-6, 6-2

No. 24 ASU vs. No. 3 Mississippi State (3-3 Tie)

Doubles

1. Nathan Ponwith/Dominik Kellovsky (ASU) def. No. 36 Nuno Borges/Strahinja Rakic (MSU) – 7-5
2. No. 7 Niclas Braun/Giovanni Oradini (MSU) def. Justin Roberts/Makey Rakotomalala (ASU) – 7-6(3)
3. No. 22 Tim Ruehl/Andrea Bolla (ASU) def. Florian Broska/Trevor Foshey (MSU) – 6-4

Singles

1. No. 11 Nuno Borges (MSU) def. Dominik Kellovsky (ASU) – 4-6, 6-2, 6-2
2. Giovanni Oradini (MSU) def. Justin Roberts (ASU) – 6-1, 7-6(5)
3. Strahinja Rakic (MSU) def. Makey Rakotomalala (ASU) – 3-6, 6-1, 7-5
4. Nathan Ponwith (ASU) def. No. 67 Niclas Braun (MSU) – 5-7, 6-3, 6-2
5. Andrea Bolla (ASU) def. No. 78 Florian Broska (MSU) – 6-3, 6-4

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