USC Men's Tennis Torches Utah

USC started the match by quickly grabbing the doubles win in just under 30 minutes. Although doubles has been an area of concern at times for the team, the Trojans looked solid, even with a new duo at line 1. Senior Yannick Hanfmann out for the day, but sophomore Nick Crystal stepped in alonside senior Roberto Quiroz and defeated opponents Cedric Willems and Matt Cowley 6-1.
“It’s just about a guy seizing an opportunity," Coach Peter Smith said of Crystal’s performance. "It was great to see him step in and play better than Yannick.”
Partners Max de Vroome and Thibault Forget clinched the doubles victory with a 6-1 win over Johan Jonhagen and Santiago Sierra. Jonny Wang and Eric Johnson abandoned their match, but still looked equally impressive.
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Singles play was spearheaded by No. 35 Jonny Wang. The senior crushed Matt Cowley at line 4 with a 6-0, 6-0 win to give USC a 2-0 lead. Wang showed no signs of weakness throughout his match on his way to securing his eighth straight singles win.
“He’s so steady, he’s a rock, he just never misses,” Coach Smith commented. “Once he gets in a guy’s head like that, it’s hard to shake him out.”
Rob Bellamy followed suit with a 6-1, 6-0 win and No. 68 Nick Crystal clinched the Trojan victory with a 6-0, 6-1 defeat of Jonhagen. No. 19 Roberto Quiroz followed his doubles partner with a straight sets win of his own on line 2.
Johnson filled in for Hanfmann at line 1 and played in the most competitive matchup of the day against Willems. Johnson, however, walked away with a 6-3, 6-2 win in the end—his second victory at the number one spot in singles. No. 66 Max de Vroome finished off the day with a 6-3, 6-2 win, securing one of the most dominant team performances of the season.
As the Trojans wrap up their last few regular-season match ups, Coach Smith hopes the team can continue to play at this level.
“We just need to do what we did today,” he said, “Just playing great tennis and finishing off opponents quickly.”
The Trojans face off against Arizona at Marks Stadium on Saturday and hope to remain on top of the Pac-12 standings.
Contact Staff Reporter Carly Fasciglione here or follow her on Twitter.