The No. 14 Stanford men’s tennis team had its chance. And another chance. And another chance.
In a devastating 4-3 defeat on Sunday, the Cardinal failed to capitalize on numerous opportunities to clinch the match against No. 5 USC–the team that eliminated Stanford from last year’s NCAA Tournament.
With the threat of rain looming (the UCLA match on Saturday was cancelled due to rain), the teams decided to play singles first, meaning the doubles possibly would not matter. Stanford wished they did not.
Courts 4-6 finished first, leaving Stanford trailing 2-1. Freshman Matt Kandath and senior Richard Wire lost, while junior Greg Hirshman won his match.
As a few raindrops made their way through the intermittent sunshine, junior Alex Clayton was locked in a battle against the nation’s top-ranked player, Steve Johnson. Clayton took the first set 6-4 and won the tiebreak in the second to win the match. Upon losing, Johnson, who was visibly unnerved by the raucous crowd the entire match, threw his racket in frustration, resulting in a one-point penalty granted to sophomore Bradley Klahn.
Next to finish was sophomore Ryan Thacher. After defeating Jaak Poldma 6-4 in the first set, Thacher dropped the second 6-2. As the crowd migrated over to Court 3 for the decisive third set, a reenergized Thacher found his form again, defeating Poldma 6-2 to win the match.
Leading 3-2 with one singles match still not finished, Stanford had its first chance to clinch the match. Klahn split his first two sets against Robert Farah, losing the first and winning the second, both on tiebreakers.
Tied 2-2 in the third set, Farah called for an injury timeout as his legs began to cramp. Klahn, in good spirits during the timeout–even winking to the crowd in jest–seemed ready to take control of the back half of the set and secure Stanford’s victory.
“The crowd helped out a lot,” Klahn said. “It’s what makes college tennis fun. Having all that support. Being able to turn around after winning a big point and seeing everyone shout and get really pumped up.”
Yet, Farah responded. After falling behind love-40, Farah won five straight points to win the game. He then broke Klahn’s serve and held his own to take a commanding 5-2 lead. Klahn then rattled off three straight games to tie the set, but that was as close as he came. Farah won 7-5 to keep USC’s hopes alive and send the match into the doubles side.
“If I could have just pushed my way through, the finish line was near and we could have clinched a huge victory for us,” Klahn said. “Unfortunately it didn’t quite go my way.”
Following a 10-minute intermission, the three doubles matches started. Klahn quickly redeemed himself, as he and Thacher–both battling injury and fatigue–dismantled Farah and JT Sundling 8-4.
Stanford needed either the Clayton and Wire pair or the Kandath and freshman Denis Lin pair to win their matches. Both had their chances. Both could not capitalize.
At one point, both matches were knotted simultaneously at 7-7.
Clayton and Wire held serve to jump ahead 8-7. Kandath and Lin could not break serve to fall behind 8-7. The freshmen then failed to hold their serve, costing them the match, 9-7.
All eyes were then on Clayton and Wire. The duo couldn’t break USC’s serve, sending their match–and the entire team match–into a tiebreaker.
The tiebreaker–first to seven points–was not without controversy. Early in the tiebreak, Clayton lobbed a ball to the back corner that appeared to have been in from all vantage points. Johnson raced back to track it down and would have had to hit a miraculous shot to return it. Johnson called the shot deep, and since his body shielded the umpire’s view, Stanford could not challenge.
Clayton and Wire never recovered. USC won the tiebreaker 7-3 to win the match.
Luckily for the Cardinal, this match does not count toward its Pac-10 record. Still, it does not make it any easier to forget the lost opportunities.
Stanford hosts Utah tomorrow at 1:30 p.m.