No. 1 USC Men Set Up Camp In Wisconsin For A Busy Week Of Competition

THIS WEEK

Ranked No. 1 in the nation, USC is coming off its first loss of 2020 in last weekend's defeat at No. 2 Ohio State. Now, the Trojans look to rebound with busy stretch of tennis ahead. USC (4-1) stays on the road, setting up camp in Madison, Wisc. First up is a clash with host Wisconsin on Tuesday (Feb. 11) at 5:30 p.m. CT. USC stays in town the rest of the week to engage in action at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship, which runs Feb. 14-17. [Draws have not yet been released]

ORACLE/ITA RANKINGS UPDATES

USC opened up 2020 as the No. 3 team in the preseason national Oracle/ITA rankings — a notable upgrade from last season's No. 8 finish and reflective of the depth of talent on the Trojans' roster. In the latest team rankings (released Feb. 5), USC leapt to No. 1 in the nation — the first time at the top spot since Feb. 24, 2015. As of the latest ITA individual rankings (released Feb. 5, 2020), USC has eight Trojans ranked in singles for the first time since 2013. Daniel Cukierman looms largest as he continues to grip his #1 singles ranking, which set him as the first Trojan since 2012 to stand as the top-ranked player in the nation. Joining him in the top-25 are #15 Mor Bulis and #24 Brandon Holt. Five other Trojans are slated in the singles rankings — #33 Riley Smith, #65 Stefan Dostanic, #69 Ryder Jackson, #95 Jake Sands and #119 Bradley Frye. In doubles, USC still has four ranked pairs. Riley Smith weighs in on three of those, standing at #25 with Frye, #53 with Dostanic and #58 with Cukierman. Now sitting at #49 is Dostanic and Holt.

MAKING THEIR MARKS

The 2020 Trojans are pulling some big numbers...

#1 team in the nation — last achieved Feb. 24, 2015

#1 player in the nation — last was Steve Johnson in 2012

8 ranked singles players — last time was April 9, 2013

4 ranked doubles teams — last time was June 5, 2013

SCOUTING WISCONSIN

The Badgers are 7-2 overall a 4-2 loss to Marquette last week. Wisconsin has no ranked singles players or doubles teams. In a series dating back to 1985, USC is 3-0 all-time against the Badgers. In the most recent meeting, USC beat Wisconsin 4-0 in the 2017 NCAA Second Round in Los Angeles.

LAST ACTION

USC took its first loss of 2020 at the hands of No. 2 Ohio State on Sunday. In an epic early-season matchup, the Buckeyes snagged a tight doubles point and then fended off the Trojans in singles to win it 4-2 today in Columbus, Ohio. Ohio State captured the first win of the day with a 6-4 decision in favor of Buckeyes Kingsley/Seelig over USC's Stefan Dostanic and Bradley Frye on court three. The remaining two matches were tangled up tight and both stretched into tiebreakers. Before USC could finish out on court one, the Buckeyes snagged the doubles point on Boulais/Trotter's 7-6 (5) win at the No. 2 spot over USC's Mor Bulis and Brandon Holt. That suspended action on court one and plugged a 1-0 lead on the board for the hosts. Singles play saw the Buckeyes prevail on the top two courts, where #22 Cannon Kingsley upended USC's #1 Daniel Cukierman in straight sets to get a 2-0 lead on the scoreboard. The Trojans fired back when #15 Mor Bulis issued a 6-2, 6-2 win over Justin Boulais on court four to make it 2-1, only to see the Buckeyes capture a win on court one. That's where USC's #24 Brandon Holt took his first loss of the year with a 6-3, 6-4 defeat at the hands of Ohio State's #19 John McNally. Down 3-1, USC stayed alive with #33 Riley Smith's 3-6 6-1, 6-1, 6-4 comeback win over #31 Kyle Seelig on court three. Two more three-setters were underway on courts five and six, but it was Ohio State's #70 James Trotter that claimed the clincher with his 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-2 win on court five over USC freshman #65 Stefan Dostanic. That wrapped up action with a 4-2 victory for the Buckeyes, suspending competition on court six where USC freshman #69 Ryder Jackson was up in the third against Robert Cash..

DANIEL DOUBLES UP

USC junior Daniel Cukierman double-dipped his way into two trophies at the Sherwood Collegiate Cup, claiming the singles crown on Jan. 20 after he and Riley Smith teamed up for the doubles title the day prior in Thousand Oaks, Calif. Top-ranked in the nation and the top seed in the singles draw, Cukierman had a bye in the opening round and would advance by walkover into the quarterfinals. There, he'd have to contend with his freshman teammates #37 Stefan Dostanic, and it was a battle. After three sets of work, Cukierman had bested his fellow Trojan 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 to take a spot in the semifinals and put an end to Dostanic's two-win start to the spring. In the semis, Cukierman was up against Stanford's Axel Geller, and the USC captain rolled to a straight-set victory that sent him into today's title match. Again, Cukierman would gut out a three-set decision, topping Stanford's #18 Alex Rotsaert 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 to claim the Sherwood Collegiate Cup singles championship. As he lifted the singles trophy in Thousand Oaks, Cukierman was not even 24 hours past the doubles championship that he had claimed alongside Riley Smith on the same court. Paired up for just the second time in their careers, Cukierman and Smith were the top-seeded pair in the doubles draw, earning a first-round bye before launching into their winning run. The two Trojans dispatched Texas A&M's Kumar/Schachter 6-3 in the quarterfinals and Stanford's Geller/Rajesh 7-5 in the semis before mirroring that score and edging out UCLA's Nanda/K. Smith in the title match. For his winning run at Sherwood, Cukierman claimed his first career Pac-12 Player of the Week award on Jan. 21.

BRANDON STAYS PERFECT

USC senior Brandon Holt hauled in his fourth career Pac-12 Player of the Week selection after a winning weekend of road work for the Trojans. With two singles and two doubles wins in the Bay Area, Holt kept his perfect slate clean this season, as he's now 7-0 in singles and 11-0 in doubles with the Trojans in 2019-20. Currently ranked #24 in the nation in singles, Holt is the second Trojan to win the award this year, following Daniel Cukierman, and he earned USC's 55th all-time award. At No. 11 Stanford, Holt combined forces with Mor Bulis for the clinching doubles point and later secured team victory for USC with a straight-set singles win on court one. The next day at No. 15 California, the Holt again got a doubles win with Bulis and cruised to the first singles win — straight sets again, this time over a ranked foe — to help USC along to another win.

FEARSOME FALL

In fall 2019, USC had Trojans win at least one individual title at five out of seven tournaments competed in. In addition, two Trojan freshmen reached tournament title matches:

SINGLES

Daniel Cukierman -— Oracle ITA Masters champion

Mor Bulis — Milwaukee Tennis Classic champion

Brandon Holt — Battle in the Bay champion

Stefan Dostanic — ITA Southwest Regional finalist

Ryder Jackson — SoCal Intercollegiate finalist

DOUBLES

Brandon Holt / Riley Smith — ITA Southwest Regional champions

Stefan Dostanic / Brandon Holt — Battle in the Bay champions

BY THE NUMBERS

USC's winningest player to date is top-ranked Daniel Cukierman, who has racked up 19 singles wins to beat out teammates Mor Bulis with 16 wins and Ryder Jackson with 15. In doubles, Stefan Dostanic and Bradley Frye lead the pack with seven wins so far.

LAST SEASON

USC went 22-8 overall last year with a run to the NCAA Round of 16, finishing the 2019 season ranked No. 8 in the nation while also boasting honors as the Pac-12 Tournament Champion. In earning a No. 5 seed and reaching the NCAA Singles Quartefinals, Brandon Holt closed out his junior campaign as an ITA All-American once again, along with status as the Pac-12 Player of the Year. Holt was joined on the All-Pac-12 awards list by fellow first-teamer Daniel Cukierman, with Laurens Verboven earning second-team honors and Tanner Smith on the honorable mention list. Holt, Cukierman and Tanner Smith all earned a place in the NCAA Singles draw and secured first-round wins. Additionally Holt paired with Riley Smith in the NCAA Doubles draw.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Mor Bulis

Daniel Cukierman

Stefan Dostanic

Bradley Frye

Brandon Holt

Ryder Jackson

Jake Sands

Riley Smith

Tanner Smith

Laurens Verboven