After more than 10 days off from competition, the Stanford men’s tennis team looked sharp on Saturday, dispatching the Yale Bulldogs five points to two. The Cardinal will now have another two weeks off before play really starts to take off in anticipation of the NCAA Championship in May.
Stanford (10-4) continued its strong play following the return of senior All-American Bradley Klahn. Sophomore Denis Lin has been one of the players who has benefited from Klahn’s return, now playing out of the No. 4 position, instead of the more competitive No. 3.
“Having BK back is huge for our team,” Lin said. “With his talent and ability to win at the top of the singles and doubles lineups, we all feel a lot more confident in our team’s ability to win any match that we play. It helps our confidence immensely now that BK is back, and we really feel like we’ll be able to compete with the best once May comes around.”
Saturday’s win was important for keeping the team’s momentum alive. A loss to unranked Yale going into the three-week break would surely have damaged the Cardinal’s confidence. Instead, the squad now has a chance to rest up, recuperate and start looking ahead to May.
Lin voiced similar sentiments after the match.
“This was definitely an important win for us going into Dead Week and finals week,” Lin said. “Even though Yale was an unranked team, they were still tough to play, especially with a lot of local friends and family cheering them on. It was also our first match after the La Jolla doubles tournament, so it was nice to get a win after a couple of weeks off from dual-match competition.”
In the match, Stanford got off to a fantastic start. At the top of the doubles lineup, Klahn and Thacher dominated their way to an 8-1 win. Their victory was soon followed up by an 8-3 win from the No. 2 doubles team of Lin and partner Matt Kandath. The freshmen duo of Robert Stineman and John Morrissey then completed the doubles sweep by winning 8-5 on the third court.
The singles play went nearly just as well for the Cardinal. Morrissey, Stineman and Klahn quickly dispatched their Bulldog opponents in straight sets, locking up the match victory for Stanford and making the final three matches formalities. Head Coach John Whitlinger was confident enough in the singles play of his team to rest senior Ryan Thacher, normally Stanford’s No. 2 player behind Klahn.
The tennis team will now focus on resting, practice and academics in their 18-day break from competition. Upon returning from spring break, the team heads right out on a three-match road trip: Pepperdine on March 28, Arizona on March 30 and Utah on April 1.