#18 Stanford Slips By Men’s Tennis, 4-3

Sunday, January 29

Chicago, Ill.

10 a.m.

University of Memphis

#18 Stanford

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Jan 29, 2017 | Men's Tennis

#18 Stanford 4, Memphis 3

Tigers come back from 3-1 down to take match to the final point.

By: Tammy DeGroff

MEMPHIS – The University of Memphis men's tennis team (2-2) won the doubles point then pushed number 18 ranked Stanford (2-1) to the brink, playing three sets in five of the six singles matches, Sunday. Stanford used a third set, 7-5 win at five singles to clinch the 4-3 victory in the ITA Kick Off Weekend matchup.

Memphis made quick work of the Cardinal in doubles. Ryan Peniston and Felix Rauch upended #55 ranked Tom Fawcett and David Wilczynski, 6-1, sealing the doubles point since teammates Matt Story and Jan Pallares had downed the Stanford's three doubles team by an identical 6-1 score. Memphis' one doubles team was just short of a second upset in doubles play, leading the number 15 ranked team of Sameer Kumar and Yale Goldberg, 5-2, when play was called.

Stanford used the singles side to even up the match as number eight ranked Tom Fawcett avenged a doubles loss to Ryan Peniston with a 6-2, 6-4 win at one singles.

From there, it got interesting. Stanford took a 2-1 lead with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 win at three singles by number 66 ranked Michael Geneder, and would push to match point with a 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 win at six singles by Brandon Sutter, but it would take every other match on the court to get the deciding point for Stanford.

Memphis sophomore Chris Patzanovsky, who played a pair of super tiebreakers last weekend in Memphis' opener, is apparently well-seasoned now in tiebreakers. After dropping his first set, 6-1, he stormed back for a 6-4 win in the second and came back to force a tiebreak in the third set. He prevailed in that tiebreaker, 7-4, to give Memphis its second point of the match.

Freshman Jan Pallares was also trying to capture some of the Patzanovsky magic. Pallares won his first set, 6-3, then dropped the second 7-5. While he was fighting in his third set, coming back from 5-4 down, junior Andrew Watson was also working toward a third set. Watson won a long opening set, 7-6 (9-7), then was edged 6-4 in the second set. Leading at 4-3, Watson powered to the third set, 6-3, evening the match at 3-all, but seconds later, Pallares was edged in the third set, 7-5, for the 4-3 Stanford victory.

The loss drops Memphis to 2-2 on the season, with both losses coming to top 20 ranked teams. The Tigers return home for a Friday match against Arkansas-Pine Bluff at noon at The Racquet Club of Memphis before taking a break from competition while the ATP Memphis Open takes over the Tigers' home facility.

Memphis will play just four matches during the month of February, three of them on the road (at Indiana, at Dartmouth, at Harvard).

#18 Stanford 4, Memphis 3
Singles
No. 1 -- #8 Tom Fawcett def. #35 Ryan Peniston (Memphis), 6-2, 6-4
No. 2 -- #111 Andrew Watson (Memphis) def. Sameer Kumar, 7-6 (7), 4-6, 6-3
No. 3 -- #66 Michael Geneder def. Kai Lemke (Memphis), 6-2, 2-6, 6-1
No. 4 – Chris Patzanovsky (Memphis) def. Jack Barber, 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4)
No. 5 – David Wilczynski def. Jan Pallares (Memphis), 3-6, 7-5, 7-5
No. 6 – Brandon Sutter def. Felix Rauch (Memphis), 4-6, 6-4, 7-5
Doubles
No. 1 -- #15 Sameer Kumar/Yale Goldberg vs. Andrew Watson/Kai Lemke (Memphis), 2-5, uf
No. 2 – Ryan Peniston/Felix Rauch (Memphis) def. #55 Tom Fawcett/David Wilczynski, 6-1
No. 3 – Matt Story/Jan Pallares (Memphis) def. Jack Barber/Michael Geneder, 6-1