By Sanjay Srinivas on January 14, 2015

After a long offseason and a coaching change, No. 30 Stanford men’s tennis (1-0, 0-0 Pac 12) opened its season with a commanding 6-1 win over the UC Davis Aggies (0-1, 0-0 Big West) on Tuesday.

“It’s exciting to be back on campus,” said new head coach Paul Goldstein on returning to Stanford, where he played from 1995-1998. “And it’s great to start off with a win.”

The Cardinal started strong, easily taking the doubles point with solid performances on Court 1 (seniors Robert Stineman and John Morrissey) and Court 2 (junior Maciek Romanowicz and freshman Tom Fawcett). Stineman and Morrissey took two quick breaks on the way to capturing the set and their match 6-1.

“I could do this job for 25 years and I don’t think I would have better leaders than John and Robert,” Goldstein told gostanford.com. “As a first-year coach to have two guys who have been around and know what they’re doing, that has helped my transition tremendously. Our team culture starts with those guys leading this team.”

Fawcett and Romanowicz clinched the doubles point with a back-and-forth 6-4 set.

Romanowicz opened up the singles round by making quick work of a frustrated Brett Bacharach in an efficient 6-1, 6-2 victory. On Court 1, Fawcett seized his match with a dominating first set, winning 6-1, 6-3 over the Aggies’ Alec Adamson. Goldstein believes that everyone on his young team needs to assume a leadership role, and was pleased with Fawcett’s performance on the top court.

“One of Tom’s hallmarks is that he’s a tremendous competitor,” Goldstein said. “He’s out there leading by example everyday, and he’s established the kind of culture that I want on this team.”

Junior Nolan Paige then clinched the win for the Cardinal with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Jesse Ross on Court 5. After Paige sealed the victory, the remaining three singles matches were tightly contested, each going three sets. The Aggies won their sole point on Court 2, as James Wade won a hotly contested match over Morrissey, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. After dropping the opening set in a tiebreak, freshman David Wilczynski took control of the match, winning 6-7 (1), 6-1, 6-1. Goldstein was most proud of the effort of freshman David Hsu in the longest match of the day. After facing match point against Bryce McKelvie, Hsu held serve and went on to win 6-4, 5-7, 7-5.

“His opponent had a chance to win the match, and he really stepped up. The way he competed at the end is a great example for the rest of the guys,” Goldstein said.

The Cardinal play their next dual match on January 24 against South Carolina in Gainseville, Florida, where they look to carry forward the momentum from a strong start to the season.

Contact Sanjay Srinivas at ssri16 ‘at’ stanford.edu.