EVANSTON, Ill. – A late surge from Memphis was quelled with composed Cardinal play as 18th-ranked Stanford topped the Tigers 4-3 Sunday morning to close out the ITA Kick-Off Weekend.
The match started off sluggish for the Cardinal (3-1) as the Tigers (2-2) came out to grab the doubles point with quick 6-1 wins at two and three.
Stanford made quick work of the Memphis lead as singles action began with eighth-ranked Tom Fawcett dispatching No. 35 Ryan Peniston 6-2, 6-4 in the No. 1 spot.
Fawcett's win was the only one to end in straight sets on the day as the rest went to three with Michael Genender battling to a 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 win at the three spot to give Stanford the 2-1 lead.
Brandon Sutter stepped up next at six as the Cardinal rallied back from falling 4-6 in the first set to Felix Rauch to take sets two and three 6-4, 7-5. The Tigers weren't finished though with Jack Barber taking Chris Patzanovsky to the tiebreak in the third set, but ultimately falling to make it 3-2.
Memphis fired back to knot it as Sameer Kumar pushed Andrew Watson to a tiebreak in the first set, but was unable to clinch it. Kumar took the second set 6-4 before Watson closed out the win 6-3 to bring the deciding point down to the final match.
In his fifth career-clinching point, David Wilczynski dropped the first set 3-6 before putting up a tireless fight back to win the next two sets 7-5, 7-5 to close out the Cardinal's third win on the year.
Stanford returns home to play host to Bay Area and Pac-12 foe, the fifth-ranked Cal Golden Bears. The match is set for 2 p.m. PT on Friday at the Taube Family Tennis Center and will be live streamed here.
No. 18 Stanford 4, Memphis 3
DOUBLES
1) No. 15 Yale Goldberg/Kumar (STAN) vs. Lemke/Watson (MEM) 2-5, unfinished
2) Peniston/Rauch (MEM) d. No. 55 Fawcett/Wilczynski (STAN) 6-1
3) Pallares/Matt Story (MEM) d. Barber/Genender (STAN) 6-1
Order of Finish: 3, 2
SINGLES
1) No. 8 Tom Fawcett (STAN) d. No. 35 Ryan Peniston (MEM) 6-2, 6-4
2) No. 111 Andrew Watson (MEM) d. Sameer Kumar (STAN) 7-6 (9-7), 4-6, 6-3
3) No. 66 Michael Genender (STAN) d. Kai Lemke (MEM) 6-2, 2-6, 6-1
4) Chris Patzanovsky (MEM) d. Jack Barber (STAN) 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4)
5) David Wilczynski (STAN) d. Jan Pallares (MEM) 3-6, 7-5, 7-5
6) Brandon Sutter (STAN) d. Felix Rauch (MEM) 4-6, 6-4, 7-5
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 6, 4, 2, 5
