The No. 7 Stanford women’s tennis team (7-2) dropped a heartbreaking 4-3 loss to No. 8 Cal (7-2) this Sunday in a non-conference match between the teams.
Led by Maegan Manasse, the No. 2 player in the nation, the Bears took an early lead over the Cardinal. After winning the doubles point, No. 42 Klara Fabikova of Cal handed Stanford’s No. 13 Taylor Davidson her first loss of the season with a 6-1, 6-4 victory.
The teams then traded points at the No. 4 and No. 5 spots, putting the Cardinal behind 3-1. Despite being on the verge of defeat, an energized home crowd at Taube Stadium was enjoying Carol Zhao’s efforts on Court 1. In a rare matchup of top-5 players, Stanford’s No. 4 Zhao was locked in a battle with No. 2 Manasse. After splitting the first two sets, Zhao raced to a 5-3 lead in the third. Manasse showed strong resilience, fighting back on four match points to take the match to a tiebreaker.
Up 6-4 in the tiebreak, Manasse had two chances to win the match outright for Cal. However, it was Zhao who roared back to win the match 8-6 in the tiebreak, keeping Stanford alive.
With the Nos. 3 and 6 matches in third sets, the match was hanging in the balance, when No. 6 Cecilia Estlander pulled out a 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory to clinch the match for Cal. Minutes later, Caroline Doyle won at No. 3 to grant Stanford a consolatory point. The match was Stanford’s second consecutive 4-3 loss of the season, after it lost 4-3 to No. 2 Florida last week.
“Obviously, there’s disappointment (in losing) to Cal at home,” said head coach Lele Forood. “But they’re a contender, just like Florida was last week. We’re close, but we have to be more consistent, especially in doubles.”
Despite the loss, Forood spoke highly of the efforts of still-undefeated No. 1, Carol Zhao.
“She’s playing unbelievably. It’s fun to watch and she’s winning at the same time. She’s leading the way for our team.”
The Cardinal will look to rebound when they host Utah to open conference play on Friday.
Contact Neel Ramachandran at neelr ‘at’ stanford.edu.