COVERAGE: streamtennis.com

UP NEXT: SAN FRANCISCO, GEORGE WASHINGTON

1/19-1/20, Taube Tennis Center, Stanford, CA

After a weekend on the road at the Sherwood cup, Stanford men’s tennis kicks off its dual season with a pair of home games. The Cardinal will start by hosting San Fransisco on Friday before welcoming George Washington the following day.

In their last tournament in Thousand Oaks, Stanford was dominant, led by senior Tom Fawcett who captured the singles title. Fawcett, who was already Stanford’s No.1 player last year, should once again lead the team on both singles and doubles this season. Junior Sameer Kumar, likely playing at the second spot for the Cardinal this season, was the other finalist at the Sherwood Cup after he beat graduate student Eric Fomba.

Last season, Stanford went 18-9, including 13-2 at home in dual matches. This year, the team returns its top four players and has added to the lineup freshmen Timothy Sah, Sam Turcheta and Axel Geller, along with Fomba. Geller, originally from Argentina, finished the 2017 tennis season as the No.1 player on the world junior circuit.

With an improved team this year, the Cardinal expect to make a deeper run in the NCAA than last season, when they fell in the third round to first-overall seed Wake Forest.

Contact Alexandre Bucquet at bucqueta ‘at’ stanford.edu.