WACO, Texas – Max Basing saved six match points and rallied for a tiebreaker win, clinching a 4-3 victory for No. 5 Stanford men’s tennis over No.12 Mississippi State in the NCAA quarterfinals at Hurd Tennis Center. Stanford improves to 26-5 on the season and advances to its first Final Four since 2003.
The fourth-seeded Cardinal, appearing in the quarterfinals for the first time since 2012, led early after doubles with the decisive point coming on court two. After a tight battle went to the Bulldogs on court one, against the top pair nationally, Samir Banerjee and Alex Razeghi earned a 6-4 win on court three. After defending a pair of Mississippi State match points at 5-4, Henry von der Schulenburg and Kyle Kang won via tiebreaker on court two, 7-6 (3).
Godsick made it 2-0, opening singles action with a 6-3, 6-4 victory on court five. The win was his 16th of the year, and he improved to 13-2 in dual action on the season. Winning his 22nd match of the season, von der Schulenburg made it 3-0 Stanford with a straight-set win of his own, 6-4, 7-5. The win was the 15th in a row for von der Schulenburg and his 18th in dual action.
Mississippi State pulled back wins on courts two, six and one, respectively, to tie the match at 3-3, leaving Basing as the lone Cardinal remaining to clinch the match. Basing trailed 5-4 in the third set, and 40-0 in the potentially decisive game, before fighting off four consecutive match points. Basing trailed 40-30 at 6-5, again saving a pair of match points from the Bulldogs to push the match into a third set tiebreaker. Basing took a 5-3 lead midway through and didn’t look back, earning his 19th victory of the season, and 16th in dual play.
The semifinals appearance is the 21st in program history for the Cardinal, which is looking for its 18th NCAA title in program history. The Cardinal improved to 5-0 all-time against the Bulldogs with the win.
Stanford will take on No. 1 Wake Forest in the NCAA semifinals on Saturday, May 17 at 2 p.m. PT (4 p.m. CT). The action will be broadcast on ESPN+.
[4] No. 5 Stanford 4, [12] No. 12 Mississippi State 3
DOUBLES
1. No. 1 Jovanovic/Sanchez Martinez (MSU) d. No. 70 Godsick/Hudson Rivera (STAN), 6-3
2. No. 47 Kang/von der Schulenburg (STAN) d. No. 60 Baroni/Martinez Serrano (MSU), 7-6 (3)
3. No. 48 Banerjee/Razeghi (STAN) d. Milanovic/Novansky (MSU), 6-4
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2
SINGLES
1. No. 28 Benito Sanchez Martinez (MSU) d. No. 7 Samir Banerjee (STAN), 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
2. No. 67 Petar Jovanovic (MSU) d. Kyle Kang (STAN), 2-6, 6-2, 6-3
3. No. 101 Max Basing (STAN) d. No. 111 Niccolo Baroni (MSU), 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (5)
4. No. 73 Henry von der Schulenburg (STAN) d. Dusan Milanovic (MSU), 6-4, 7-5
5. Nico Godsick (STAN) d. Bryan Hernandez Cortes (MSU), 6-3, 6-4
6. Mario Martinez Serrano (MSU) d. Alex Razeghi (STAN), 6-4, 2-6, 6-4
Order of Finish: 5, 4, 2, 6, 1, 3