Stanford women’s tennis has coasted to victory in its five matches thus far and, in its season opener, the men’s team did the same. Stanford men’s tennis (1-0, 0-0 Pac-12) earned an easy 6-1 win over Santa Clara (2-2, 0-1 WCC) on Friday to remain perfect in 13 all-time meetings with the Broncos.
The Cardinal went undefeated in doubles play to earn the doubles point, with two Stanford pairs 𑁋 No. 94 freshman Arthur Fery and senior Timothy Sah and freshmen Tristan Boyer and Aryan Chaudhary 𑁋 easily escaping their respective opponents 6-3. Sophomore Neel Rajesh and junior Alexandre Rotsaert were given more trouble by Santa Clara’s No. 2 doubles pair, Dominic Barretto and Guillaume Dalmasso, and narrowly avoided defeat with a 7-5 outcome.
Rajesh earned the first singles point for Stanford with a decisive 6-2, 6-0 victory on the sixth court. Chaudhary carried his success into singles play as well, operating in the No. 5 spot for Stanford and securing a comfortable 6-4, 6-1 win over Santa Clara’s Vasileios Iliopoulos.
Sah provided the clinching point for the Cardinal with a 6-1, 6-3 performance against Barretto on court three. Fifth year William Genenson added another point on court four with the defeat of Arthur Neuhaus.
Only No. 119 Boyer walked away with a loss for the Cardinal, but it was hardly without a fight. The freshman pushed Santa Clara’s Mann Shah to three sets after splitting the first two 6-2 and 6-7. A 4-6 outcome in the third helped give Shah the victory and the Broncos their lone point of the afternoon.
Entering the matchup, Stanford boasted a top-five ranking in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) preseason poll. Rotsaert earned his highest preseason ranking by the ITA at No. 3 in the nation. While rankings have shifted due to the Cardinal’s late start to the season relative to the rest of college tennis, the team’s opening performance suggests that Stanford is itching to live up to its No. 5 preseason rank.
Stanford’s next opponent will be Saint Mary’s on Wednesday, when the Gaels visit the Farm. The action gets underway at 2 p.m. PT.