Men’s tennis falters, women’s tennis cleans up Cougars

March 26, 2021, 9:37 p.m.

Taube Family Tennis Center was busy on Friday as men’s tennis (2-2, 0-0 Pac-12) hosted No. 5 TCU (10-5, 0-0 Big 12) while No. 35 women’s tennis (9-0, 5-0 Pac-12) hosted No. 47 Washington State (10-6, 2-2 Pac-12).

The women’s team continued its undefeated season by beating the Cougars 6-1, but the men’s side continued to struggle against ranked opponents and fell 4-1 to the Horned Frogs.

TCU jumped out to a 1-0 lead after winning two of the three doubles sets, meaning the Cardinal would need to find wins in four of the six singles matches to secure the victory. After every player finished his first set, Stanford could only find three players with the advantage. 

True freshman Tristian Boyer, playing on the third court, came the closest to providing the Cardinal’s fourth opening set win. His opponent, TCU’s Sander Jong, needed all 13 games in the first set to defeat Boyer. The Cardinal freshman would’ve taken the first set himself, but he missed easy shots while playing close to the net, resulting in Boyer losing the final game and dropping the first set 7-6.

Boyer’s match was suspended in the third set as TCU picked up wins on courts one, five and six to close out the match 4-1. True freshman Arthur Fery earned the only point for his squad when his opponent retired in the second set. 

The women’s team fared better in its start against Washington State. Despite the Cougars’ attacks close to the net, senior Michaela Gordon and junior Niluka Madurawe stood firm to win their doubles set 6-3. They were joined by a 6-2 set win from junior Sara Choy and fifth-year Emma Higuchi to give the Cardinal a 1-0 lead.

The Cougars only enjoyed an advantage in its handshake game and on court five, where senior Janice Shin lost her first set 6-7. Every other player on the women’s squad won her match in straight sets.

Despite cheers from her teammates and cheering from the synchronized swimming meet at Avery Aquatics Center next door, Shin fell in the second set to give the Cardinal their only loss in the 6-1 win.

The women’s team will be back on Saturday to face No. 49 Washington (9-5, 1-4 Pac-12) while the men’s team will take to the court on Sunday against Utah (11-7, 1-3 Pac-12).

Michael Espinosa '22 is majoring in international relations. He's the head of The Daily's social media team, and editor for the University beat and also occasionally writes for sports, arts, and The Grind. He's the biggest Taylor Swift fan at Stanford and the proudest New Yorker you will ever meet. Contact him at mespinosa 'at' stanforddaily.com.

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