‘Cats Fall 3-4 to #24 Stanford

STANFORD, Calif. – The #15 Wildcats lost their first Pac-12 match this season, falling 3-4 in a tough battle to #24 Stanford on Friday, March 17 at Taube Tennis Center. 

Arizona started off strong and won the doubles point after Nick Lagaev and Colton Smith defeated Samir Banerjee and Filip Kolasinski 6-3 at three doubles followed by Gustaf Strom and Herman Hoeyeraal who clinched the point in a tiebreaker against Aryan Chaudhary and Neel Rajesh at two doubles 7-6(2). The junior Wildcat pair lead the team in doubles with a 6-3 record together. 

Despite securing the doubles advantage, the ‘Cats stumbled in singles to give Stanford the final victory. Freshman Jay Friend gave Arizona its first singles win at six singles after defeating Kolasinski in straight sets 6-1, 6-4, followed by #97 Hoeyeraal who won 7-6(1), 6-2 against Chaudhary in his usual No. 4 lineup spot. The Wildcats then lost two matches in a row for Stanford to tie the overall score 2-2. #3 Nishesh Basavareddy bested Strom 1-6, 3-6 at three sinlges, giving the Swede his second loss this spring. At one singles, #78 Smith fell 1-6, 5-7 to #13 Arthur Fery. 

Stanford tied the match once again when Lagaev lost 3-6, 4-6 against Rajesh at five singles. #28 Jonas Ziverts split sets with #124 Banerjee, falling 4-6 in the first then coming back 6-3 to survive for a third where the captain lost 2-6 at two singles. 

The ‘Cats are back in action for their second Pac-12 match against #33 California which is scheduled for Sunday, March 19 at 2 p.m. MT but could be rescheduled due to heavy rain. Follow us on Twitter @ArizonaMTennis and on Instagram @ArizonaTennis for updates. 

Results

#15 Arizona 3, #24 Stanford 4

Singles competition 

1. #13 Arthur Fery def. #78 Colton Smith 6-1, 7-5

2. #124 Samir Banerjee def. #28 Jonas Ziverts 6-4, 3-6, 6-2

3. #3 Nishesh Basavareddy def. Gustaf Strom 6-1, 6-3

4. #97 Herman Hoeyeraal def. Aryan Chaudhary 7-6(1), 6-2

5. Neel Rajesh def. #115 Nick Lagaev 6-3, 6-4

6. Jay Friend def. Filip Kolasinski 6-1, 6-4. 

Order of finish: 6, 4, 3, 1, 5, 2

Doubles compeition 

1. #58 Jonas Ziverts/Jay Friend vs. #23 Nishesh Basavareddy/Arthur Fery unf. 

2. Herman Hoeyeraal/Gustaf Strom def. Aryan Chaudhary/Neel Rajesh

3. Colton Smith/Nick Lagaev def. Samir Banerjee and Filip Kolasinski 6-3

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