Over the weekend, No. 9 Stanford men’s tennis picked up a 4-2 home victory over Louisville. Stanford took two out of three in the doubles to pick up one point as Samir Banerjee & Alex Razeghi won their set 7-6 while Nico Godsick & Hudson Rivera won their set 6-3.
As for the singles, below are the results:
Kyle Kang (Stanford) def. Nathan Rodrigues (Louisville) 6-3, 6-0.
Will Mayew (Louisville) def. Hudson Rivera (Stanford) 7-5, 6-2.
Alex Razeghi (Stanford) def. André Steinbach (Louisville) 6-3, 6-1.
Nico Godsick (Stanford) def. Hamza El Amine (Louisville) 7-6, 4-6, 6-2.
Harsh Hemang Parikh (Stanford) vs. Kosuke Nakanishi (Louisville) 5-7, 6-3, 6-6 (8-8) unfinished.
Piet Steveker (Louisville) def. Nathan Barki (Stanford) 6-2, 6-4.
“You know, we came in, we had starters out, at the end of the day we had half of our regular starters out of the lineup and not just that, like our top three,” Stanford head coach Paul Goldstein said after the match. “These guys who hadn’t been playing top three, although Kyle’s right there. So, you know, we talked a couple weeks ago, we had a team meeting and I said, man, if we could play any team in the country going ten deep, I’d take it. I’d take it. I’d especially take it if we get the coaches against other coaches, let’s do it.
“But today was an example of that, right? We’re playing, how many guys played today? Eight? Nine? Nine guys played today. Nine guys played today. That doesn’t happen very often. So we’re proud of the depth of this team and then at the very end, it’s just well, really pleased with Kyle playing number one, playing a quality player and getting 2-0. Love that. We need him to get going and he got it going today. Loved that.
“Alex Razeghi just keeps on rolling. That was clutch for him and Samir to come through in the doubles there at the end. And then the last hour, it was just fun, right? I just got a text from the Cal coach who won his match today, but then was watching ours and he just said ‘Are you not entertained?’ from The Gladiator. And he’s right. This is fun.”
Stanford decided to rest some guys as their top player Samir Banerjee only played doubles. That ended up working out just fine for Stanford as they still pulled out the team victory.
That said, it was an intense finish for Stanford as the final two singles matches featuring Nico Godsick and Harsh Hemang Parikh both went down to the wire and were the final two matches of the night. As long as Stanford won one of the two matches, they were going to be fine, but for a little bit, it wasn't certain if Stanford would win either match.
“Harsh hadn’t played a match all year and actually it was funny. I asked him, you know, we need you for singles. Are you gonna be able to go if we go three sets and he’s like I got you coach,” Goldstein said. “And here he is, cause he hadn’t been playing much. He was in good shape and his opponent was struggling at eight all in the third set tiebreaker. So, we’re really proud of that effort and he’s just the most lovable guy you could ever be around. I just don’t know that anyone on earth has said a bad word about Harsh Parikh ever. So would have loved for him to have gotten that clinch for us, but I’m really proud of them.”
What was particularly interesting about the two final matches is that for much of the night it looked like Parikh would be the one to clinch to victory for the Cardinal, but his match got extended into a tiebreaker, allowing Godsick to be the one to clinch. Not only that, but Parikh’s opponent Nakanishi started cramping up towards the end, having to resort to underhand serves and hobbling around the court like he had a peg leg. His condition improved slightly, but it was still kind of a bizarre sight to see a guy try to soldier on when it looked like it would have been in his best interest to throw in the towel.
As a result, players from both teams kept shifting their attention to different matches. Going over to the court they thought was going to finish first to cheer them on only to then switch to a different court. Down the stretch, it really did look like Parikh’s match would end first, making it kind of a surprise to see Godsick be the one to pull it out first.
“Nico’s going through this third set and everyone was down there watching Harsh. For him to stay focused it’s a really hard thing to do,” Goldstein said. “Really hard thing to do. So we talked about that in the post game. And I think Nico loving Harsh the way he does, he was hoping Harsh would clinch it over there, but he’s got to take care of his business on the court and he did it and he got us out of there and so I was really, and I told them both, you know, that last hour, if any one of them falters and loses, he puts a lot of pressure on the other guy. So the fact that there are two guys playing, takes a little bit of the pressure off, and allows both of them to perform, so I was pleased with that.”
“Yeah, it’s definitely not easy,” Godsick said. “It was electric over there. I could hear it and it’s tough in a third set, hearing how loud it is over there. Harsh one of our best friends. I just wanna be there supporting him. But at the same time like you said, I have to lock in and stay on my court because you never know what’s gonna happen. Is he going to win? Is he not? But I’m here to support my brothers and it just scored more pressure. The fact that I stay out there and stay up a break on serve takes pressure off of Harsh and then the fact that Harsh stays out there, it doesn’t go out in two sets. It takes pressure off of me. So I just think we’re working together well and it’s not easy for sure, but I’m just happy we got the win.”
Of course, what most matters for Stanford is they pulled it out. A win is a win and it doesn’t matter how you get the job done. Collectively they came together and did what they had to do.
“I think I just stayed mentally tough,” Godsick said of how the pulled out that third set. “I think he got a bit tired at the end, which is one thing I try to pride myself in is like I’m not gonna lose a match because I’m out of shape. Control the controllables, work hard in the gym, but pretty much, yeah, just stick to my game plan. I was a little more aggressive, actually. But overall I knew if he was gonna beat me, I was gonna have to lose 7-6 in the third. So I think I just tried to out tough him and he gave me a few free points at the end, but I started serving better, I wasn’t serving well the whole match, third set I started serving much better, going for my shots, but overall, it’s about the team. It’s not just my match, you know. Everyone else took care of business.”
Up next for Stanford is a road trip to Virginia and Virginia Tech for a pair of ACC matches. On Friday, March 21st they’ll take on Virginia Tech and then on Sunday, March 23rd they’ll face Virginia.
“First thing all he said to us was, because he’s been telling us all season, you know, if we could play a ten men match every time we’re gonna win because our team’s so deep,” Godsick said of what Goldstein told them after the win. “And today, we had our top three single players sitting out and he’s so he’s like we’re deep, we’re here to play, but let’s get better, let’s recover. And we know we have the talent and we have the work ethic to beat every team in the country. But, you know, we can also lose to every team. So as long as we respect everyone, fear nobody, that’s just what Goldie’s been telling us. Stay humble, stay hungry, and back to work on Monday.”
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