STANFORD, Calif. – No. 7 Stanford men's tennis begins Pac-12 play this weekend, as the Cardinal hosts Arizona State on Friday and No. 21 Arizona on Saturday at Taube Family Tennis Stadium.
The Cardinal enters the conference dual season 9-2 overall, with four consecutive wins. Stanford downed No. 19 Tulane (4-0) and No. 4 Florida (4-1) in its final two matches of the ITA National Indoor Championships, and posted wins over UC Davis (4-0) and California (4-2) at home.
Stanford begins with Arizona State on Friday at 3 p.m. Last season in Tempe, Eric Fomba erased a 5-2 third-set deficit to pull out the win at the No. 4 spot and lift Stanford to a 4-3 victory over No. 20 Arizona State. Sophomore Axel Geller, senior Sameer Kumar and junior William Genesen each played in last year's thriller.
The Cardinal will face Arizona on Saturday at 1 p.m. Stanford blanked the Wildcats, 4-0, last year in Tucson. Geller and Michael Genender each posted wins to contribute to the convincing victory.
Geller has risen to No. 8 in the latest ITA singles rankings, while freshman Alexandre Rotsaert is ranked No. 32, Kumar is ranked No. 35 and Genesen is No. 56 in the latest poll. Stanford's top doubles team of Geller and Rotsaert are ranked No. 70 nationally.
Last season, Stanford finished second in the Pac-12 regular-season standings with a 7-1 conference mark.
This weekend's matches continue a season-long eight-match homestand at Taube Family Tennis Stadium.
