SAN DIEGO – In a match that came down to a couple points in the final tiebreaker, No. 23/19 Stanford men's tennis dropped a tight contest to No. 27/29 Arizona State, 4-3, in the semifinals of the Pac-12 Tournament.
Stanford led early with a victory in doubles, as the pairs of Arthur Fery and Alexandre Rotsaert and Axel Geller and Tomas Kopczynski won by 6-2 and 6-3 margins, respectively.
For the second-straight match Tristan Boyer was the first to complete his match, scoring a 6-1, 6-1 victory in the fourth spot. Arizona State pulled a match back, but Arthur Fery immediately pushed the Cardinal advantage to 3-1 with a win at No. 2 singles, 6-3, 7-5.
The Sun Devils tied the match at 3-3, which came down to a winner-take-all bout on court five. Timothy Sah came back from a 5-2 deficit to tie the match and push it to a tiebreaker, but Arizona State survived with a 10-8 victory in the final game.
Stanford will face Arizona in a consolation match tomorrow.
No. 27/29 Arizona State 4, No. 23/19 Stanford 3
DOUBLES
1) Geller/Tomas Kopczynski (STAN) d. Rakotomalala/Ruehl (ASU), 6-3
2) McKennon/Ponwith (ASU) led Boyer/Sah (STAN), 5-4 susp.
3) Fery/Rotsaert (STAN) d. Lerby/Stoupe (ASU), 6-2
Order of Finish: 3, 1
SINGLES
1) No. 95 Nathan Ponwith (ASU) d. No. 93 Axel Geller (STAN), 7-5, 6-4
2) No. 52 Arthur Fery (STAN) v. Makey Rakotomalala (ASU), 6-3, 7-5
3) Tim Ruehl (ASU) d. Alexandre Rotsaert (STAN), 7-5, 6-4
4) Tristan Boyer (STAN) d. George Stoupe (ASU), 6-1, 6-1
5) Max McKennon (ASU) d. Timothy Sah (STAN), 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (8)
6) Christian Lerby (ASU) d. Neel Rajesh (STAN), 6-0, 7-5
Order of Finish: 4, 6, 2, 3, 1, 5