STANFORD, Calif. – Following an amped doubles point, solid singles play in the four, five and six positions powered the 22nd-ranked Cardinal past the visiting 25th-ranked Illinois Fighting Illini in a 4-2 win Monday afternoon at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium.
The doubles point would prove to be paramount as Stanford (9-4) opened up with Tom Fawcett pairing up with Yale Goldberg in the one spot to grind through a tough 6-4 win to give the Cardinal the advantage.
The lead was quickly eradicated though with Vuk Budic and Aleks Vukic of the Fighting Illini (9-8) battled to their own 7-5 win at No. 2. Coming down to the wire, Brandon Sutter and David Wilczynski had to pull out their own 7-5 victory at three to secure the point while moving to 7-2 in dual play.
Singles action saw Stanford come out strong as Brandon Sutter made quick work of Zeke Clark with a 6-2, 6-2 win at five right before David Wilczynski stretched his win streak to four in the No. 4 position with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Julian Childers.
Illinois was able to jump on the board as Aleks Vukic pounced on a medical break by Tom Fawcett to run off with a 6-3, 6-0 win. Aleks Kovacevic kept the Illini in it, topping Michael Genender at the No. 3 position to pull it closer, but the hero of the day was over in the No. 6 spot in William Genesen.
Playing in only his fourth dual of the year, Genesen controlled the pace against Vuk Budic, keeping the Illini in his rearview the whole time as he rallied to a 6-4, 6-4 win to claim his career-first match clinching point.
The Cardinal returns to action on Wednesday as it heads south to take on San Diego State in its only away match of the week. Match time is set for 1 p.m. PT at the Aztec Tennis Center in San Diego, Calif.
No. 22 Stanford 4, No. 25 Illinois 2
DOUBLES
1) Fawcett/Yale Goldberg (STAN) def. Jesse/Kovacevic (ILL), 6-4
2) Budic/Vukic (ILL) def. No. 67 Genender /Kumar (STAN) 7-5
3) Sutter/Wilczynski (STAN) def. Clark/Gomes (ILL) 7-5
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3
SINGLES
1) No. 23 Aleks Vukic (ILL) def. No. 15 Tom Fawcett (STAN), 6-3, 6-0
2) No. 115 Sameer Kumar (STAN) vs. Gui Gomes (ILL), 5-7, 4-4, susp.
3) Aleks Kovacevic (ILL) def. No. 99 Michael Genender (STAN), 6-3, 6-2
4) David Wilczynski (STAN) def. Julian Childers (ILL), 6-1, 6-2
5) Brandon Sutter (STAN) def. Zeke Clark (ILL), 6-2, 6-2
6) William Genesen (STAN) def. Vuk Budic (ILL), 6-4, 6-4
Order of Finish: 5, 4, 1, 3, 6
