STANFORD, Calif. – Opening the Dick Gould Stanford/So-Cal Challenge with a preview of the Pac-12's first weekend, No. 11 Stanford men's tennis was tripped up by No. 3 USC, 6-1, on Friday afternoon at the Taube Family Tennis Center.
Freshman Neel Rajesh remained unbeaten in dual action, picking up victories in both doubles and singles to lead the Cardinal. First, Rajesh paired with Axel Geller at No. 1 doubles for a 6-4 victory, and he cruised to a singles-opening triumph, 6-4, 6-1, that tied the match 1-1. Rajesh moves to 4-0 in dual action, while picking up his first-career victory over a ranked opponent.
Timothy Sah and Sangeet Sridhar battled strong in the decisive doubles bout, narrowly dropping the final two points as USC moved ahead, 1-0. Sridhar pushed his opponent to the brink in each of his singles sets, but came away empty in a pair of tiebreakers.
Alexander Rotsaert, facing the nation's top-ranked player, fell in three sets, including a come-from-behind 7-5 effort in the second frame. USC's Brandon Holt won at No. 1 singles to clinch the match for the Trojans.
Stanford returns to action tomorrow, Feb. 1, as No. 10 UCLA visits campus. First serve is set for 2 p.m.
No. 3 USC 6, No. 11 Stanford 1
DOUBLES
1) Geller/Rajesh (STAN) d. Cuckierman/R. Smith (USC), 6-4
2) Bulis/Holt (USC) d. Sah/Sridhar (STAN), 6-4
3) Dostanic/Bradley Frye (USC) d. Tomas Kopczynski/Alexandre Rotsaert (STAN), 6-2
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2
SINGLES
1) No. 25 Brandon Holt (USC) d. Axel Geller (STAN), 7-5, 6-2
2) No. 1 Daniel Cuckierman (USC) d. No. 18 Alexandre Rotsaert (STAN), 6-0, 5-7, 6-3
3) No. 26 Riley Smith (USC) d. No. 54 Sangeet Sridhar (STAN), 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5)
4) No. 9 Mor Bulis (USC) d. Timothy Sah (STAN), 6-3, 6-4
5) Neel Rajesh (STAN) d. No. 37 Stefan Dostanic (USC), 6-4, 6-1
6) No. 64 Ryder Jackson (USC) d. Filip Kolasinski (STAN), 6-3, 2-6
Order of Finish: 5, 6, 4, 1, 2, 3