In their Pac-12 season opener, No. 25 Stanford men’s tennis (9-5, 1-0 Pac-12) emerged victorious over No. 15 Arizona (12-3, 0-1 Pac-12), winning 4-3 on Friday.

The afternoon at Taube Family Tennis Center started with a loss, as the Cardinal dropped the doubles point to the Wildcats. Freshman Samir Banerjee and senior Filip Kolasinski were defeated 3-6, while junior Aryan Chaudhary and senior Neel Rajesh lost 6-7. 

As the singles matches got underway, Arizona stretched the overall score to 2-0, as Kolasinski fell 1-6, 4-6 in the sixth spot. With wins from No. 13 junior Arthur Fery and No. 3 freshman Nishesh Basavareddy, playing in the first and third slots respectively, Stanford evened out the score at 2-2. Fery defeated No. 78 Colton Smith 6-1, 7-5, while Basavareddy triumphed over Arizona’s Gustaf Strom, 6-1, 6-3. 

Stanford and Arizona were very evenly matched, as a loss from Chaudhary on court four and a win from Rajesh on court five once again tied up the overall score at 3-3. 

The final result came down to Banerjee. After two hours of matchplay, Banerjee, playing in the second slot, clinched the match in a three set victory over Arizona’s team captain, No. 28 Jonas Zivert, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. It was a resounding victory for the Cardinal in their first conference match of the season. 

Stanford will continue its Pac-12 slate on Saturday at home against No. 39 Arizona State (11-4, 0-0 Pac-12). Matches are set to begin at 4 p.m. PT.