No. 18 Stanford men’s tennis (3-1, 0-0 Pac-12) claimed a nail-biting victory against Georgia Tech (5-1, 0-0 ACC) at the Taube Family Tennis Center on Sunday afternoon. The Cardinal paved their way to a tightly contested 4-3 win over the Yellow Jackets to advance to the next round of the ITA regionals.

Two significant rain delays did not deter Stanford, as the team successfully outlasted their opponents after nearly five hours of competition.

The doubles pairings experienced some tough competition to start off, with junior Arthur Fery and senior Filip Kolasinski falling short against the Jackets 6-4, while freshman Samir Banerjee and sophomore Max Basing experienced a similar fate, losing their set 6-3. Despite Georgia Tech having already gained a 1-0 lead, freshman Nishesh Basavareddy and senior Neel Rajesh managed to provide some consolation, thrashing their opponents 6-1. 

After losing the doubles point, Stanford needed to be dominant in the singles portion. Fortunately, Fery, Basing and junior Aryan Chaudhary rose to the challenge by securing the first sets of their matches and eventually going on to earn three points for the Cardinal. Fery and Chaudhary defeated their opponents convincingly, winning 6-2, 6-4 and 6-3, 6-2, respectively. Additionally, Basing managed to win 6-2, 7-6 (3) after a nerve-wracking second set on court two.

Whilst Basing’s triumph had drawn Stanford level, losses from Banerjee and Basavareddy on courts four and five meant the score was hanging in the balance for the Cardinal. Stanford’s fate depended solely on Rajesh in the sixth spot, who shone under pressure to win his match 6-7 (2), 6-1, 6-3 in dramatic fashion.

After a tremendous singles display, Stanford will continue their ITA regionals campaign at Taube Monday against Texas A&M (1-1, 0-0 SEC). The start time is set for 1 p.m. PT, but is subject to change depending on the course of the preceding match between Georgia Tech and No. 20 Pepperdine (0-2, 0-0 WCC).