OJAI, Calif. – No. 20 Stanford men’s tennis will play for the Pac-12 Tournament championship for the first time since 2015 after defeating No. 23 Arizona State, 5-1, in the semifinals at Libbey Park. The Cardinal improves to 17-5 on the season with the result.
The Cardinal had to rally from behind, as the Sun Devils claimed the doubles point with wins on courts one and three.
Stanford’s strong singles performance continues in the first sets, with the Cardinal taking all three while dropping only 14 combined games. Samir Banerjee picked up a 6-2, 6-0 win on court two to tie the match at 1-1, while the Cardinal took the lead for the first time after Max Basing’s 6-1, 6-1 victory on court three. Nishesh Basavareddy expanded the advantage to 3-1 with a win over the nation’s 12th ranked player in the top position, 6-2, 6-2.
Needing just one win to clinch the match, the final points on courts four and five finished simultaneously, with both Neel Rajesh and Nico Godsick triumphing over their opposition.
Stanford will face the winner of No. 11 Arizona and Oregon in the championship match on Saturday, April 27 at 5 p.m. The action will air on Pac-12 Network.
No. 20 Stanford 5, No. 23 Arizona State 1
DOUBLES
1) No. 79 Bullard/Cassone (ASU) d. No. 49 Basing/Godsick (STAN), 6-1
2) No. 71 Artnak/McKennon (ASU) led Banerjee/Basavareddy (STAN), 5-3 uf
3) Phillips/Vergara (ASU) d. Aryan Chaudhary/Harsh Hemang Parikh (STAN), 6-3
Order of Finish: 1, 3
SINGLES
1) No. 17 Nishesh Basavareddy (STAN) d. No. 12 Murphy Cassone (ASU), 6-2, 6-2
2) No. 57 Samir Banerjee (STAN) d. No. 55 Bor Artnak (ASU), 6-2, 6-0
3) Max Basing (STAN) d. Max McKennon (ASU), 6-1, 6-1
4) Neel Rajesh (STAN) d. Jacob Bullard (ASU), 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
5) Nico Godsick (STAN) d. Roi Ginat (ASU), 7-5, 7-5
6) Hudson Rivera (STAN) led Constantinos Koshis (ASU), 6-1, 2-6, 3-2
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1, 4 & 5 (simultaneous finishes)
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