STANFORD, Calif. – The 18th-ranked Cardinal will take to the road for the first time in dual play as it travels to Evanston, Ill. to compete in the ITA Kick-off Weekend. The Cardinal will face Georgia Tech at 8 a.m. (PT) on Saturday before facing either Memphis or No. 10 Northwestern at 8 a.m. or 12 p.m. (PT) on Sunday at host Northwestern.
Last Week:
The Cardinal (2-0) opened dual play despite rainy conditions as it was forced to play Eastern Washington indoors. The Eastern Washington Eagles in their first meeting with the Cardinal were no match as Stanford swept the first four matches in straight sets with Roy Lederman collecting his first career clinching point as the Cardinal won 4-0.
The match-up with the BYU Cougars proved to be more adverse as the Cardinal had to battle back from losing the doubles point. Brandon Sutter struck first in singles to make it 1-1, but the Cougars came back to win at No. 5 for the lead. Stanford dug in on the front courts as Sameer Kumar, Michael Genender and Jack Barber all finished off wins in order at Nos. 1-3 with another career-first clincher - this time from Jack Barber.
Scouting the Competition
Coincidence? I Think Not
The Cardinal enters into Saturday's match against Georgia Tech with a 5-0 record dating back to 1984 with the last meeting coming in 2000 - ironically a 4-0 Stanford win when forced to play on the indoor Taube court due to rain. GT comes into the match with a 1-1 record after falling in the season-opener to No. 5 Georgia before blanking Tennessee 7-0.
Two-fer Tigers:
While the Tigers and the Cardinal have never met before in program history, Memphis and Stanford both enter the weekend 2-0 with the Tigers beating Michigan State 7-0 and 6-1 over LSU.
Waiting WIldcats:
The 10th-ranked Wildcats may have been licking their chops at this potential match as the Cardinal upset No. 14 NU on their home court last season in the NCAA Second Round with a thrilling 4-3 win as Tom Fawcett won a dramatic match for the clinching point. All-time the Cardinal is 4-0 against the 'Cats beginning in 1991.
Fall Recap
The Cardinal came off another successful fall campaign that saw Tom Fawcett help lead the U.S. team to victory for the second straight year at the 2016 Master'U BNP Paribus International Team competition in France in November.
Fawcett also reached the quarterfinals of the ITA All-American Championships and was the consolation runner-up in the National Individual Indoor Championships. He enters the season ranked No. 8 by the ITA.
In addition, Yale Goldberg and Sameer Kumar captured the ITA Northwest Regional doubles title. The duo fought off multiple match points in the championship en route to the title. The team enters the dual season ranked No. 15 by the ITA.
In the final tune-up of the season before dual play, the Cardinal traveled to the Sherwood Collegiate Cup in Thousand Oaks, Calif. Jack Barber, in his first match in 22 months after recovering from surgery, topped the 11th-ranked Gage Brymer of UCLA before finishing as a semifinalist in the singles main draw.