ASU men's tennis finished the opening week of the season with a 1-1 record, defeating Florida Atlantic 4-3 in its home opener and losing 4-3 on the road to No. 4 Texas.
Florida Atlantic
ASU opened its victorious effort against FAU by securing the doubles point, winning two of three matches.
ASU's second and third pairs — seniors Andrea Bolla and Makey Rakotomalala, along with sophomore George Stoupe and freshman Moritz Hoffmann — both won their matches 6-3.
ASU's top pair, led by senior Nathan Ponwith and five-star freshman Max McKennon, fell 7-6 after the doubles point had been awarded to ASU.
In singles play, the Sun Devils briefly lost their advantage, dropping three of the first four matches. Rakotomalala was the first Sun Devil to drop his singles match, losing to FAU junior Maxime Lapraille 6-2, 6-3.
McKennon and four-star freshman Spencer Brachman both lost their singles matches, each winning just five total games apiece. Bolla secured ASU's first singles win by defeating FAU sophomore Kevin Huempfner 6-2, 6-2.
Ponwith, who played his previous 19 singles matches for ASU at No. 1 but only saw the court twice last year as he battled a shoulder injury, secured ASU's third victory 7-6, 6-2 at the No. 2 spot.
Ultimately, Stoupe, playing at No. 6 singles, clinched the result in the only match that went to a third set, defeating FAU freshman Finn Stodder 6-2, 6-7, 6-2.
Texas
ASU again started strong in doubles, clinching the point by winning two of three matches against Texas.
At No. 1 doubles, ASU's pairing of Bolla and senior Tim Ruehl, who did not play against FAU, won by a 6-0 score, while Ponwith and McKennon rebounded with a 6-3 win at the No. 2 spot. Hoffmann and Rakotomalala fell 6-3 at the No. 3 spot.
However, the Longhorns, who boast three nationally ranked singles players, proved to be too strong for the Sun Devils, winning the first four singles matches to clinch victory.
Rakotomalala fell 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 to Texas sophomore Eliot Spizzirri, and Bolla fell 6-3, 6-4 to freshman Micah Braswell. McKennon also lost in three sets, and Hoffmann lost his singles debut 6-2, 6-3 at the No. 5 spot, where he replaced Brachman.
After the result was clinched, Ponwith, back in his traditional No. 1 spot, delivered a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 comeback win over sophomore Siem Woldeab in his singles match.
Stoupe also improved to 2-0 in singles play with a 6-4, 7-6 (6) victory against sophomore Evin McDonald.
ASU will next face GCU in Tempe on Feb. 3 at 3 p.m. MST.
Reach the reporter at cbreber@asu.edu and follow @carsobi on Twitter.
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