University of Tennessee Athletics
Stodder Advances To Second Round With Straight Sets Win
May 23, 2018 | Men's Tennis
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Junior Timo Stodder earned his first-career victory in the NCAA Men's Tennis Championship on Wednesday, defeating Jake Douglas of Washington 7-5, 7-6 at Wake Forest Tennis Complex.
Stodder will face UNC Asheville's Henry Patten in the round of 32 on Thursday at 1 p.m. Patten took down Alex Lebedev of Michigan in his first round match, emerging victorious in a three-set battle.
After battling to a 5-5 deadlock in the first set, Stodder was able to hold and then break Douglas to win 7-5 and claim the early advantage.
The second set would be even more contested as the two went back-and-forth for 12 games before heading to a decisive tiebreaker. With victory in his sights, Stodder found new momentum and took the tiebreak by a score of 7-4 to win the match. With the victory, Stodder improves his singles record to 30-13 on the season.
The win also marks the first victory in singles by a Tennessee player in the NCAA Championship since 2015, when Mikelis Libietis advanced to the round of 16 before falling in three sets to TCU's Cameron Norrie.
UP NEXT: Stodder faces Henry Patten of UNC Asheville on Thursday at 1 p.m. Tennessee's top doubles pairing of Preston Touliatos and Luis Valero will play in the first round of the doubles championship on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. against Brandon Holt and Riley Smith of USC.
Players Mentioned
