Saturday, March 31
Los Angeles, CA
1:00 PM
USC
2
vs
4
Stanford
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
Photo by: John McGillen
No. 3 Stanford Sneaks Past No. 14 USC For 4-2 Comeback
March 31, 2018 | Men's Tennis, Features
Trojans take their first Pac-12 loss of the year with a defeat to the Cardinal.
LOS ANGELES, CALIF. — The No. 14 USC men's tennis team had the early upper hand on visiting No. 3 Stanford, but the Cardinal caught a winning wave to claim a 4-2 comeback win over the Trojans today at Marks Stadium. USC goes to 12-6 overall and to 3-1 in Pac-12 play with the loss.
Doubles play was a nail biter as USC and Stanford traded 6-1 decisions on the top two courts to leave it all up to court three. That one stretched into a tiebreaker, where the Cardinal pair of #25 Fawcett/Genender got the upper hand on USC's Daniel Cukierman and Tanner Smith. The Trojans were undeterred, however, staring down three match points to level the breaker at 6-6. Stanford got back up 7-6, but again the Trojans shrugged off another match point. USC would press on and take the doubles point on Cukierman/Smith's 10-8 tiebreaker win to go along with #23 Jack Jaede and Laurens Verboven's victory over Stanford's #75 Kumar/Genender on court one.
That brought up singles play, where USC worked out to a 2-0 advantage on a swift victory from Thibault Forget on court six. The senior delivered a 6-2, 6-1 win over Stanford's William Genesen to give USC the lift. Stanford would counter next, however. At the No. 2 spot, #50 Axel Geller topped USC's #67 Daniel Cukierman 6-2, 6-4 to make it 2-1 before #71 Sameer Kumar equalized for the Cardinal on a 7-5, 6-3 win over USC's Jack Jaede on court three. Stanford would snag the lead on a three-setter on court one, as #10 Tom Fawcett edged out USC's #9 Brandon Holt 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 to make it 3-2 Cardinal. Two more three-setters were going strong at that point, but the Cardinal had the upper hand in both. On court four, Eric Fomba would pull off the clincher with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 comeback win over USC's Laurens Verboven to stop play with the 4-2 Stanford win on the board. That suspended the court five matchup between USC's Jake DeVine and David Wilczynski with the Cardinal up 5-1 in the third set.
USC's next competition brings rival UCLA to Marks Stadium for a crosstown showdown between the Trojans and Bruins at 3 p.m. on Friday (April 6).
#3 Stanford 4, #14 USC 2
March 31, 2018 | Marks Stadium (Los Angeles, Calif.)
DOUBLES
(1) #23 Jaede/Verboven (USC) def. #75 Genender/Kumar (STAN) - 6-1
(2) Fawcett/Geller (STAN) def. R. Smith/Smolicki (USC) - 6-1
(3) Cukierman/T. Smith (USC) def. Sah/Wilczynski (STAN) - 7-6 (8)
USC wins doubles point.
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3
SINGLES
(1) #10 Tom Fawcett (STAN) def. #9 Brandon Holt (USC) - 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
(2) #50 Axel Geller (STAN) def. #67 Daniel Cukierman (USC) - 6-2, 6-4
(3) #71 Sameer Kumar (STAN) def. Jack Jaede (USC) - 7-5, 6-3
(4) Eric Fomba (STAN) def. Laurens Verboven (USC) - 3-6, 6-2, 6-2*
(5) Jake DeVine (USC) vs. David Wilczynski (STAN) - 6-2, 4-6, 1-5 susp.
(6) Thibault Forget (USC) def. William Genesen (STAN) - 6-2, 6-1
Order of finish: 6, 2, 3, 1, 4*
Doubles play was a nail biter as USC and Stanford traded 6-1 decisions on the top two courts to leave it all up to court three. That one stretched into a tiebreaker, where the Cardinal pair of #25 Fawcett/Genender got the upper hand on USC's Daniel Cukierman and Tanner Smith. The Trojans were undeterred, however, staring down three match points to level the breaker at 6-6. Stanford got back up 7-6, but again the Trojans shrugged off another match point. USC would press on and take the doubles point on Cukierman/Smith's 10-8 tiebreaker win to go along with #23 Jack Jaede and Laurens Verboven's victory over Stanford's #75 Kumar/Genender on court one.
That brought up singles play, where USC worked out to a 2-0 advantage on a swift victory from Thibault Forget on court six. The senior delivered a 6-2, 6-1 win over Stanford's William Genesen to give USC the lift. Stanford would counter next, however. At the No. 2 spot, #50 Axel Geller topped USC's #67 Daniel Cukierman 6-2, 6-4 to make it 2-1 before #71 Sameer Kumar equalized for the Cardinal on a 7-5, 6-3 win over USC's Jack Jaede on court three. Stanford would snag the lead on a three-setter on court one, as #10 Tom Fawcett edged out USC's #9 Brandon Holt 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 to make it 3-2 Cardinal. Two more three-setters were going strong at that point, but the Cardinal had the upper hand in both. On court four, Eric Fomba would pull off the clincher with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 comeback win over USC's Laurens Verboven to stop play with the 4-2 Stanford win on the board. That suspended the court five matchup between USC's Jake DeVine and David Wilczynski with the Cardinal up 5-1 in the third set.
USC's next competition brings rival UCLA to Marks Stadium for a crosstown showdown between the Trojans and Bruins at 3 p.m. on Friday (April 6).
#3 Stanford 4, #14 USC 2
March 31, 2018 | Marks Stadium (Los Angeles, Calif.)
DOUBLES
(1) #23 Jaede/Verboven (USC) def. #75 Genender/Kumar (STAN) - 6-1
(2) Fawcett/Geller (STAN) def. R. Smith/Smolicki (USC) - 6-1
(3) Cukierman/T. Smith (USC) def. Sah/Wilczynski (STAN) - 7-6 (8)
USC wins doubles point.
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3
SINGLES
(1) #10 Tom Fawcett (STAN) def. #9 Brandon Holt (USC) - 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
(2) #50 Axel Geller (STAN) def. #67 Daniel Cukierman (USC) - 6-2, 6-4
(3) #71 Sameer Kumar (STAN) def. Jack Jaede (USC) - 7-5, 6-3
(4) Eric Fomba (STAN) def. Laurens Verboven (USC) - 3-6, 6-2, 6-2*
(5) Jake DeVine (USC) vs. David Wilczynski (STAN) - 6-2, 4-6, 1-5 susp.
(6) Thibault Forget (USC) def. William Genesen (STAN) - 6-2, 6-1
Order of finish: 6, 2, 3, 1, 4*
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