March 28, 2017
SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego State men's tennis team steps off campus this week to battle No. 22 Stanford in a non-conference dual match on Wednesday, March 29, at Rancho Santa Fe Tennis Club. First serve is set for 2 p.m. PT.
The Aztecs (5-11, 1-1 Mountain West) are mired in a six-match losing streak after dropping a 4-1 decision at No. 42 Utah State on March 25. Against the Aggies, seniors Marko Goles-Babic and Milen Ianakiev joined forces to post their fourth straight win at No. 1 doubles to improve to 5-1 this spring. In addition, Goles-Babic survived a grueling three-set affair at No. 1 singles; however, the Aztecs came up short in their remaining three encounters after ceding the early doubles point.
Goles-Babic and freshman Rafael Gonzalez Almazan are tied for the team lead with six singles victories apiece in dual-match competition, while Ianakiev and freshman Joel Popov have earned five wins each this spring. On March 21, Goles-Babic and Ianakiev cracked the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) doubles rankings for the first time this season, landing in the 51st position.
Stanford represents SDSU's sixth nationally ranked opponent of the season and fifth in March alone. Prior to last Saturday's dual at Utah State, the Aztecs suffered consecutive shutouts against No. 26 Memphis and No. 4 Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Okla., followed by another blanking at the hands of No. 25 Oregon on the first day of the San Diego Spring Break Tournament. In addition, SDSU experienced a narrow 4-3 defeat to Arizona in the aforementioned event to fall to 0-2 against Pac-12 teams this year.
The Cardinal, meanwhile, raised their record to 9-4 on the season after collecting a 4-2 victory over No. 25 Illinois in their last outing on Monday. Stanford captured the doubles point before pocketing wins at the fourth, fifth and sixth singles positions to improve to 8-1 at home this year. The Cardinal are 0-2 in true road matches this season, dropping a 4-3 decision to No. 12 USC on Feb. 24, before falling to No. 15 UCLA the following day. Stanford has faced one additional MW team this season, dispatching UNLV by a 7-0 count at home on Feb. 11.
Cardinal junior Tom Fawcett occupies the 15th spot in the latest ITA individual rankings, while sophomore Michael Genender finds himself at No. 99, followed by fellow classmate Sameer Kumar at No. 115. In doubles, Genender and Kumar are currently ranked 67th.
The two teams will be meeting for just the third time since 1989 on Wednesday. Stanford captured the two previous encounters at home, posting a 6-1 triumph in 2003, followed by a 7-0 victory last season.
Following Wednesday's engagement, San Diego State returns to Aztec Tennis Center for a pair of conference matches vs. Fresno State (April 7) and Nevada (April 9).