Stanford men follow script with dramatic NCAA win

Tom Fawcett, playing in Sacramento Challenger
qualifying last October, gave Stanford a 4-3 win
over 14th seed and host Northwestern on Sunday
in the second round of the NCAA Championships.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   One day after Taylor Davidson won 6-4 in the third set of the deciding match to put the Stanford women in the round of 16 of the NCAA Championships, Tom Fawcett did the same for the Cardinal men.
   The primary difference was that the men played on their opponent's home courts instead of at home. Also, Fawcett plays No. 1 singles and Davidson No. 2.
   Fawcett, ranked 15th, defeated Konrad Zieba, ranked 20th, 5-7, 6-0, 6-4 on Sunday to give Stanford a 4-3 victory over 14th-seeded Northwestern in Evanston, Ill.
  For Fawcett, it essentially was a home match. The 6-foot-5 (1.96-meter) sophomore is from nearby Winnetka, Ill.
  Stanford (16-10), under second-year coach Paul Goldstein, reached the NCAA round of 16 for the first time since a quarterfinal finish in 2012.
   The Cardinal will take on third-seeded UCLA, with sixth-ranked Mackenzie McDonald of Piedmont and Northwestern transfer Logan Staggs of Tracy, on Friday in Tulsa, Okla.
   UCLA is 3-0 against Stanford this season. The Bruins won 4-3 at Stanford on Feb. 27, 4-1 at UCLA on April 1 and 4-1 in semifinals of the Pacific-12 Conference Championships in Ojai, Calif., on April 22.
   Cal (19-6), seeded 13th in the NCAAs, crushed Mississippi 4-0 in Berkeley to set up a rematch with Texas Christian (26-3), seeded fourth, on Friday in Tulsa. The Bears knocked off the then-No. 2 Horned Frogs 4-2 in Austin, Texas, on Feb. 7.
   Top seed and defending champion Virginia, with sophomore Collin Altamirano of Sacramento at No. 2 singles, dominated Penn State 4-1 in Charlottesville, Va.
   Altamirano, ranked 33rd, led Constant De La Bassetiere 6-4, 6-6 when the Cavaliers clinched the match.
   Virginia (26-4) will play 14th-seeded Oklahoma State (20-7) on Friday in Tulsa.
   ATP World Tour -- Fifth-seeded Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, former Stanford stars, edged eighth-seeded Vasek Pospisil and Jack Sock 2-6, 6-3 [10-7] to win their fourth Italian Open title in Rome. All but Pospisil, from Canada, are American.
   USTA -- Fourth-seeded Leslie Airola-Murveit of Portola Valley and Andrea Barnes of Palo Alto beat top-seeded Tina Karwasky of Glendale, Calif., and Jan Kirkland-Cochran of Tyrone, Ga., 6-2, 7-6 (5) to win the women's 60 title in the USTA May Men's and Women's Hard Courts in La Jolla, Calif.
   In singles, third-seeded Judy Newman of Scotts Valley (women's 50) and fourth-seeded Roger Kahn of Oakland (men's 65) reached the semifinals.