The Sun Devil men’s tennis team had a successful weekend in Montgomery, Alabama, as they found their first tournament win in the Blue Gray Tennis Classic Championship title.
Boise State
Beginning Friday, the Sun Devils swept Boise State, 4-0.
They clinched the doubles point and soon after, senior Michael Geerts took his fourth-straight win.
On court three, sophomore Baonoromandresy Rakotomalala captured ASU’s third point while defeating Boise State freshman Mattia Bedolo, 6-3, 6-2. Freshman Benjamin Hannestad clinched the final ASU point with his win on court two against freshman Matteo Tinelli, 6-3, 6-4.
Fresno State
Earlier in the season, ASU swept Fresno State during the ASU Invitational and were ready to take them on again Friday afternoon.
Shortly after doubles matches began, they were postponed due to rain.
The Sun Devils held a 6-0 lead on court one and a 5-3 lead on court two, giving them an advantage when the matches continued Saturday morning.
Fresno fought back in singles and freshman Thomas Wright fell to freshman Cem Erturk, 0-6, 4-6, securing Fresno’s first point.
Rakotomalala got ASU back on track with his win, against senior Xander Veys, 6-2, 6-4.
However, sophomore Pierre Louis Dodens lost to sophomore Cagatay Soke, 1-6, 4-6, tying ASU and Fresno, 2-2.
ASU came out of the match against Fresno State victorious, after Geerts defeated junior Mantas Bugailiskis for the second time this season, 6-4, 6-2, and Hannestad won against junior Jeremy Moser, 6-4, 7-6.
Alabama
ASU captured the title in the final round of the tournament after it defeated Alabama Saturday evening, 4-3.
Alabama secured the doubles point after an intense battle between ASU's Geerts and Wright and Alabama double pair, sophomore Edson Ortiz and junior Mazen Osama, which ended in a Crimson Tide win, 7-6.
But the Sun Devils were determined to fight back during singles.
Hannestad tied ASU and Alabama after his win on court two against sophomore Thibault Cancel, 6-1, 6-2.
Freshmen Tim Ruehl and Andrea Bolla followed in Hannestad’s path and soon claimed victories on courts four, 6-2, 6-1 and five, 6-2, 6-4, respectively.
The rest of the singles matches went to their third sets.
The Crimson Tide secured two consecutive wins against freshman William Kirkman, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, and Rakotomalala, 6-2, 6-7, 6-2.
With both team's points tied 3-3, it was all left up to Geerts on court one to secure an ASU win.
Geerts battled it out against Osama, 2-6, 7-6, 6-4, ultimately handing Alabama its first loss of 2018, and Geerts was named the Men's MVP in the tournament due to his six-game winning streak and two match-clinching points.
The Blue Gray Tennis Classic Championship title is the first tournament title since ASU's reinstatement.
The Sun Devils hope to extend their eight-game winning streak when they play Stanford on Thursday, March 8 in Tempe.
Reach the reporter at sbrisen@asu.edu or follow @sophiabriseno on Twitter.
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