No. 21 Men’s Tennis Advances to Round of 32 After Nail-Biter Against UGA

WINSTON-SALEM– In the opening round of the NCAA Tournament competing at the Winston-Salem Regional hosted by Wake Forest, Arizona State men’s tennis (18-9) came out on top 4-3 in the thriller over Georgia (14-14) on Friday. Roi Ginat clinched the match for ASU and secured the team’s 18th win on the season, which is the most wins in a single season since the program’s reinstatement.

Arizona State advances to the round of 32 and will face off against the winner of today’s match between No. 6 Wake Forest and South Carolina State on Saturday, May 4 at 2 p.m. MST. 

While ASU took the first doubles match on court three, courts one and two fell shortly after which allowed UGA to clinch the doubles point and lead 1-0.

Court six was the first singles match to finish and Constantinos Koshing fell in straight sets which allowed Georgia to take a 2-0 lead. Max McKennon followed up with the first Sun Devil point of the day after winning in straight sets and it was a 2-1 match. 

Murphy Cassone evened the match at two after his straight-set victory. Bor Artnak fell in the third set which allowed UGA to take a 3-2 edge. Jacob Bullard battled to a tiebreak in the second set and won 7-1 to clinch the singles point on court four and we were even at 3. 

With the match coming down to court five, Roi Ginat battled in his third set, eventually pulling away 6-2 to clinch the match in ASU’s 4-3 victory. 

Singles Competition: 

1. #11 Murphy Cassone (ASU) def. #36 Thomas Paulsell (UGA) 7-6(6), 6-2
2. #68 Ryan Colby (UGA) def. #64 Bor Artnak (ASU) 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 
3. Max McKennon (ASU) def. Niels Ratiu (UGA) 7-6(5), 6-0
4. Jacob Bullard (ASU) def. Miguel Pena (UGA) 6-4, 7-6(1)
5. Roi Ginat (ASU) def. Cyrus Mahjoob (UGA) 6-4, 2-6, 6-2
6. Filipe Costa (UGA) def. Constantinos Koshis (ASU) 6-2, 6-3

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

Doubles Competition: 

1. #22 Freddy Blaydes/Niels Ratiu (UGA) def. #40 Jacob Bullard/Murphy Cassone (ASU) 6-3
2. Ryan Colby/Thomas Paulsell (UGA) def. #86 Max McKennon/Bor Artnak (ASU) 7-5
3. Martin Vergara/Daniel Phillips (ASU) def. Cyrus Mahjoob/Miguel Pena (UGA) 6-3

Order of finish: 3,1,2

Up Next: 

Arizona State will face off against the winner of No. 6 Wake Forest and South Carolina State on Saturday, May 4 at 2 p.m. MST. The winner of the Winston-Salem Regional will advance to the Super Regional to be held the following…