Men’s Tennis | April 02, 2023
TUCSON, ARIZ. — The No. 9 USC men’s tennis team was upended by No. 18 Arizona when the Wildcats made their move in the singles stretch to capture a 4-3 win over the Trojans today in Tucson, Ariz. USC goes to 11-6 overall and is now 1-1 in Pac-12 play after a road split this weekend in the desert.
The Trojans tallied a tight doubles point that came down to court two. At the No. 3 spot, Ryan Colby and Stefan Dostanic swept up a swift 6-1 win over Arizona’s Padgham/Strom to get USC a lift, only to have the Wildcats bite back with a 6-2 victory at the top slot. Arizona’s Friend/Ziverts topped USC’s Bradley Frye and Peter Makk to put eyes on the doubles decider at court two. There, the Trojan tandem of Wojtek Marek and Samuel Rubell kept composure and collected a 6-2 win over Lagaev/Smith to net USC a 1-0 lead in the road match.
The hosts leveled things with No. 45 Jonas Ziverts’ 7-6 (3), 6-1 win over USC’s No. 26 Peter Makk on court two, and then Arizona took a 2-1 advantage after Jay Friend averted a third-set threat in collecting a 6-2, 7-6 (3) win over USC’s Ryan Colby at the No. 5 position. On court four, Lodewijk Weststrate righted the ship for USC as he chalked up a 6-0, 7-6 (4) win over No. 91 Nick Lagaev, and it was all even at 2-2 with three-setters raging on the remaining three courts.
Arizona would edge ahead again when No. 80 Colton Smith staged a comeback against USC’s No. 32 Stefan Dostanic at the top spot, claiming a 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 victory to push the Wildcats to a 3-2 lead over the Trojans. Coming in clutch from court six was USC veteran No. 124 Bradley Smith, who battled it out with Arizona’s Dominique Rolland to knot things up 3-3 on a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 victory, leaving it up to the action on court three between USC’s Wojtek Marek and Wildcat Gustaf Strom. Marek had forced a third set right around the time that Frye finished out his three-setter for the USC cause, but his Arizona opponent, Gustaf Strom, dug in on home turf and pulled out the clincher with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-0 decider to secure a 4-3 win for the Wildcats.
Next week, USC heads to the Bay Area for more Pac-12 competition. The Trojans visit Stanford for a 2 p.m. match on Friday (April 7) before heading to Berkeley to take on California at 2 p.m. on Saturday (April 8).
#18 Arizona 4, #9 USC 3
April 2, 2023…
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