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ASU Men’s Tennis: Upset falls short again as Sun Devils lose 4-2 to UCLA

By Carson Roberts

LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 07: Arizona State Sun Devils mascot Sparky the Sun Devil stands on the court during the team's first-round game of the Pac-12 basketball tournament against the Colorado Buffaloes at T-Mobile Arena on March 7, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Buffaloes won 97-85. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 07: Arizona State Sun Devils mascot Sparky the Sun Devil stands on the court during the team's first-round game of the Pac-12 basketball tournament against the Colorado Buffaloes at T-Mobile Arena on March 7, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Buffaloes won 97-85. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /
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ASU men’s tennis dropped their first game Friday night in their weekend home stand, falling to No. 2 UCLA 4-2 in front of the season’s biggest crowd.

Arizona State (13-8) failed to capitalize on early momentum from doubles play, as the Bruins (21-2) dominated the singles matches.

Head coach Matt Hill’s team seemed to be ready for an upset after a 2-1 nail-biter to claim the doubles point.

After the game, Hill admitted that the team was not playing at an especially high level, pointing to a lower first serve percentage than usual.

“Overall, winning two doubles, I thought they did a really nice job of playing to their strengths and playing with the tactics that we were asking them to do in the big moments,” Hill said.

As Hill mentioned, the Sun Devils still impressed while taking the doubles point.

Early on, it seemed as though UCLA would cruise to the match’s first point. The Bruins took the first set on all three courts.

Then, UCLA’s Bryce Pereira and Maxime Cressy ran away with a 6-2 win over Benjamin Hannestad and Will Kirkman.

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Meanwhile, ASU’s Makey Rakotomalala and Andrea Bolla tied the score up at 1-1 after their win over Austin Rapp and Keegan Smith.

Rakotomalala and Bolla built a 4-2 advantage and never looked back, defeating the No. 11 doubles pairing 6-4.

With the point on the line, Michaël Geerts and Tim Ruehl squared off against UCLA’s Martin Redlicki and Evan Zhu.

This matchup featured some controversy when the two duos were tied 30-30 in the eight set.

After an official behind UCLA’s pair deemed a return out, the official at the net disagreed and awarded the point to the Sun Devils. Following some deliberation, the officials agreed the point should go to ASU, which infuriated the UCLA side.

Although the players and coach argued their side, the point still went to Geerts and Ruehl. The decision made the score 40-30, and the Sun Devils would win the game on the next point.

The game tied the match at four sets apiece.

With the help of Geerts’ hard serves and some close calls, Geerts and Ruehl pulled out a 6-5 victory and earned the doubles point.

According to team officials, the number of fans attending reached 432, and the spectators made their presence known after the strong early showing.

The atmosphere peaked when the crowd erupted after Geerts’ upset of No. 1 Redlicki in singles.

The leader of the Sun Devils started off slow, but improved as the match progressed. Eventually, he topped the nation’s top-ranked singles player 7-5, 6-4.

After the match, Hill said, “I like that he didn’t start well, particularly serving-wise. Usually that would rattle him a little and I thought he managed that really well.”

However, the Bruins silenced the audience quickly with an impressive performance in solo play.

UCLA racked up singles wins rapidly, with many ASU players looking sluggish on the courts.

Smith drew the first point for the Bruins in his 6-2, 6-3 win over the usually energetic Rakotomalala.

Following Geerts’ win, Hannestad fell to Zhu in a 6-4, 6-4 match. Then, the Bruins’ Connor Hance defeated Kirkman 6-4, 6-2.

UCLA secured the victory following Maxime Cressy’s 6-1, 6-4 win over Bolla.

The outcome on Court 5 meant the match on Court 4 between ASU’s Ruehl and UCLA’s Logan Staggs was cut short.

At the time, Staggs led the third set 1-0 after taking the second set 6-3. Ruehl cruised to a 6-1 victory in the first set.

Next: ASU Tennis: Sun Devils look to upset LA schools at home

In the wake of another failed top-five upset bid, the Sun Devils aim to rebound with another tough opponent Sunday when they face No. 16 USC.

All quotes in this article were obtained firsthand by Devils in Detail unless otherwise noted.