Thayne, Fuchs earn ranked victories as BYU falls 5-2 to No. 20 Stanford

PROVO, Utah – BYU men’s tennis saw ranked victories over the nation’s 5th and 59th singles players from Wally Thayne and Zach Fuchs, but the Cougars ultimately lost 5-2 to No. 20 Stanford Thursday afternoon.

Thayne and Fuchs both won in straight sets. Stanford earned the doubles point after wins at Nos. 2 and 3 doubles before securing the match with four singles victories, two of which BYU forced into three sets.

“I'm always disappointed when we don't win, but I thought we played a very solid match against Stanford today,” said BYU head coach Dave Porter. “Stanford is obviously a good team, ranked 20th, and have a lot of ranked individual players. So, to be close in doubles and win at Nos. 2 and 3 singles in straight sets while being in three sets at Nos. 1 and 4, we're very pleased with how we played today. We're going to get a little bit of rest to be ready for San Diego on Saturday. Come and join us and after the first session of General Conference and watch some good tennis.”

FULL RESULTS

Doubles

1. Jack Barnett/Wally Thayne (BYU) vs. Filip Kolasinski/Samir Banerjee (STAN) 5-5, unf.
2. Arthur Fery/Anders Matta (STAN) def. Zach Fuchs/Brigham Andrus (BYU) 6-3
3. Max Basing/Aryan Chaudhary (STAN) def. Redd Owen/Dominik Jakovljevic (BYU) 6-3

Order of finish: 2, 3

Stanford struck first at No. 2 doubles, scoring an early break to take a 3-1 lead. Fuchs and Andrus nearly had a break of their own later in the match but lost on deuce point. The two-game margin held throughout the match before Fery and Matta added another break point to take the match 6-3.

No. 3 doubles also saw Stanford go up 3-1. Once again the Cougars had a chance to even the score, but Owen and Jakovljevic fell on deuce point after going up 40-15. Basing and Chaudhary went on to win 6-3 to secure the doubles point.

The other two results meant No. 1 doubles went unfinished. The tight match was locked at 5-5, with neither side having lost their serve.

Singles

1. No. 7 Arthur Fery (STAN) def. Jack Barnett (BYU) 4-6, 6-3, 6-0
2. Wally Thayne (BYU) def. No. 5 Nishesh Basavareddy (STAN) 7-5, 6-3
3. Zach Fuchs (BYU) def. No. 59 Samir Banerjee (STAN) 7-5, 6-3
4. Neel Rajesh (STAN) def. Dominik Jakovljevic (BYU) 2-6, 7-6 (3), 6-2
5. Aryan Chaudhary (STAN) def. Redd Owen (BYU) 6-2, 6-4
6. Filip Kolasinski (STAN) def. Brigham Andrus (BYU) 6-4, 7-6 (5)

Order of finish: 3, 2, 1, 4, 5, 6

Fuchs put BYU on the board at No. 3 singles, where he defeated No. 59 Banerjee in straight sets. In set one, Fuchs fell behind 3-1 before winning a game while receiving without giving up a point to tie the set at 4-all. He later went ahead 6-5 before grabbing another break on deuce point to win the set 7-5.

Set two started with Fuchs up 2-0 after a backhand winner off Banerjee’s serve. Stanford responded with a break in the next game to tie the set at 2-all, but Fuchs then had two-straight games of his own to lead 4-2. That advantage held, with Fuchs winning the match on deuce point and taking set two 6-3.

Thayne secured a ranked win of his own at No. 2 singles, also winning in straight sets over No. 5 Basavareddy. Stanford led first when a break point gave Basavareddy a 3-2 lead, but Thayne took the next game on deuce point to tie the set. The pair remained tied until Thayne held his serve to go up 6-5 and won another break on deuce point to win set one 7-5.

Set two saw Thayne continue his momentum and start with a 3-0 lead. Two of those games were decided by deuce points, with Thayne victorious both times. He ultimately served for the match, holding his serve and winning 6-3 with a shot that hit the top of the net and trickled over to Stanford’s side.

Stanford’s first singles win came on the No. 1 court, where Barnett took No. 7 Fery to three sets. Barnett won set one after breaking a 4-4 tie with two-straight winning games. He won the second of those games while receiving with a nice return to Fery’s serve that Fery could not hit cleanly, giving Barnett the 6-4 set win. Set two saw Fery go up 3-1, and while Barnett stayed close, Fery ended up winning the set 6-3 after adding another break. Set three also went Fery’s way as the Cardinal won every game to win 6-0.

No. 4 singles also went to three sets. Jakovljevic was the aggressor in the first, taking a comfortable 6-2 win. The second also saw Jakovljevic take a lead, 4-2, before Rajesh fought back for a 4-all tie. Jakovljevic later survived two set points and saw the set head to a tiebreaker. Rajesh won the tiebreaker by a comfortable 7-3 margin and also took set three, winning 6-2.

Stanford clinched the dual match at No. 5 singles. Owen went down 3-1 before winning a break point to only trail 3-2, but Stanford won the final three games to take set one 6-2. Set two was tied 4-all before Chaudhary held his serve and won the next game while receiving to earn a 6-4 victory.

The Cardinal added to their lead at No. 6 singles, where Andrus fell in two close sets. Kolasinski took set one 6-4, winning three separate games on deuce points. Set two saw Andrus go up 5-3 with a chance to serve for the set, but Kolasinski won three-straight games to lead 6-5. Andrus extended the match with a break point of his own and later took a 3-0 lead in the tiebreaker before Stanford stormed back to win set two 7-6 (5).

BYU next hosts No. 27 San Diego this Saturday, April 1, at 12:00 p.m. MDT from the BYU Indoor Tennis Courts.