In just his second collegiate tournament and first time playing on the Farm, freshman Tom Fawcett won the singles USTA/ITA Northwest Regional Championships title for Stanford men’s tennis, beating out Santa Clara’s Ashot Khacharyan (3-6, 6-3, 6-1).
The victory marked the first time that a Stanford player has taken home the title since Ryan Thacher ’12 was crowned singles champion at the regional event in Seattle in 2011.
“I’m really proud of Tom’s effort, beginning with the first ball he struck at the start of the tournament,” head coach Paul Goldstein told GoStanford. “He was very solid, winning a lot of points with his serve while also creating errors for his opponent. Today was a different match in that his opponent made him play a lot of balls and win points from the baseline. For Tom to be able to make the adjustment midway and win points from the ground, it completely changed the dynamics of the match in the second set. Tom’s will in that third set was outstanding.”
En route to his finals victory, Fawcett received a bye in the first round and won his first five matches in straight sets. In his semifinal win, the freshman out did his teammate and classmate David Tsu 6-3, 6-4.
In the title match, however, Fawcett’s play was not quite as clean, dropping the first set 6-3 to Khacharyan. With the second set tied, Fawcett registered a break after holding serve to even the match. The third set was when Fawcett truly dominated in an impressive fashion, again relying on his serve to put away Santa Clara’s sophomore.
With the singles title win, Fawcett has secured himself a spot in the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships in New York in the beginning of November.
Tom Fawcett's first career singles crown comes in his second career tourney. How did he do it? Watch the highlights: http://t.co/dzKV1kyqIX
— Stanford Men's Tennis (@StanfordTennis) October 22, 2014
“Tom’s win today is equally important for the culture of our team. Here’s a guy who competed so well today and he’s going to keep pushing the rest of the guys on the team. We’re not where we need to be, Tom’s not where he needs to be and I’m not where I need to be. Don’t get me wrong, I’m extremely proud of this effort and it’s a great positive, but we’ve all got work to do. Tom’s result today is a step in that direction, along with David’s run to the semifinals.”
Earlier this month, Stanford women’s tennis sophomore Carol Zhao played at the same Taube Stadium and won the women’s singles title at the USTA/ITA Northwest Regional Championships.
Contact Ashley Westhem at awesthem ‘at’ stanford.edu.