USC Men Take Over As Nation’s No. 1 Entering Clash At No. 2 Ohio State

THIS WEEK

USC has leapt to No. 1 in the nation in the ITA national rankings this week —on top for the first time since 2015. That turns the lights up even brighter on this weekend's stage, now set to feature the top-ranked Trojans against No. 2 Ohio State. USC is on its way to Columbus, Ohio, to take on the Buckeyes on Sunday (Feb. 9) at 12 p.m. ET.

ORACLE/ITA RANKINGS UPDATES

USC opened up 2020 as the No. 3 team in the preseason national Oracle/ITA rankings — a notable upgrade from last season's No. 8 finish and reflective of the depth of talent on the Trojans' roster. In the latest team rankings (released Feb. 5), USC has leapt to No. 1 in the nation — the first time at the top spot since Feb. 24, 2015. As of the latest ITA individual rankings (released Feb. 5, 2020), USC has eight Trojans ranked in singles for the first time since 2013. Daniel Cukierman looms largest as he continues to grip his #1 singles ranking, which set him as the first Trojan since 2012 to stand as the top-ranked player in the nation. Joining him in the top-25 are #15 Mor Bulis and #24 Brandon Holt. Five other Trojans are slated in the singles rankings — #33 Riley Smith, #65 Stefan Dostanic, #69 Ryder Jackson, #95 Jake Sands and #119 Bradley Frye. In doubles, USC still has four ranked pairs. Riley Smith weighs in on three of those, standing at #25 with Frye, #53 with Dostanic and #58 with Cukierman. Now sitting at #49 is Dostanic and Holt.

MAKING THEIR MARKS

The 2020 Trojans are pulling some big numbers...

#1 team in the nation — last achieved Feb. 24, 2015

#1 player in the nation — last was Steve Johnson in 2012

8 ranked singles players — last time was April 9, 2013

4 ranked doubles teams — last time was June 5, 2013

SCOUTING OHIO STATE

The No. 2 Buckeyes are 8-0 overall a 4-1 upset of then-No. 1 Texas last week. Ohio State has four ranked singles players — #19 John McNally, #22 Cannon Kingsley, #31 Kyle Seelig and #70 James Trotter. In doubles, the Buckeyes have the top pair in the nation in #1 Cash/McNally. In a series dating back to 1979, USC is 6-5 all-time against the Buckeyes. Since USC grabbed a 4-1 win over Ohio State in the 2009 NCAA Championship match, the teams have met six more times, with the Buckeyes owning wins in the past four meetings. The most recent clash was a 5-0 Ohio State win last year in Columbus.

LAST ACTION

USC had a successful first road trip of 2020 in grabbing a 6-1 win at No. 11 Stanford and a 4-1 victory at No. 15 California. Both were nonconference clashes, but helped the Trojans to a 4-0 mark overall on the year. After the Cardinal had things tied up at 1-1, USC rattled off three straight-set wins, capped by a clincher from #25 Brandon Holt, to lock in on the Trojan victory. USC captured a tight doubles point thanks to wins on courts three and two sandwiching a loss on court one. Stefan Dostanic and Bradley Frye teamed up to success at the No. 3 spot in beating Stanford's Kopczynski/Rotsaert 6-2 for an early leg up. The Cardinal struck back with a 6-4, win from Geller/Rajesh over USC's Daniel Cukierman and Riley Smith, only to see the Trojans secure the opening point on Mor Bulis and Brandon Holt's 6-4 on court two over Sah/Sridhar. Down 1-0, Stanford eked out the first point of singles action when Neel Rajesh topped USC freshman Stefan Dostanic 6-4, 6-1 on court five. That snarled things up 1-1, but USC had two Trojans chomping at their bits to snag the next point for their team. While the court two battle between #1 Daniel Cukierman and #18 Alex Rotsaert stretched into a third set, freshman Ryder Jackson tallied that go-ahead win for USC. Match point had eluded the freshman the first time, but a game later he'd hold his ground and hold serve to beat Filip Kolasinski 6-3, 6-2 on court six. On court four, #9 Mor Bulis also had match point slip away early on, but the sophomore dug in and delivered a 6-3, 6-4 win over Timothy Sah to take the Trojans ahead 3-1 with USC leading on the remaining three courts. Back in the lineup after a short stint on the injured list, USC's #25 senior Brandon Holt notched the clincher from court one, taking down Axel Geller 7-5, 6-2 to ensure the road win for the Trojans. The match played on, and Cukierman closed in next to complete a three-set win on court two over #18 Rotsaert -- 6-0, 5-7, 6-3. Topping off the day's action was #26 Riley Smith on court three, where he hauled in two tiebreakers to claim a 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5) win over #54 Sangeet Sridhar and make it a 6-1 USC decision. At Cal, the Bears got a doubles win and a singles win, but the Trojans remained unfazed. USC snagged the doubles point and then got singles wins at the top of the ladder and then a clincher from freshman Stefan Dostanic on court five to clean up the victory. At the No. 2 spot, Mor Bulis and Brandon Holt teamed up against Cal's Kicuchi/Molloy for a 6-2 win to kick things off for the Trojans. The Golden Bears fired back in nabbing a 6-4 by #22 Draper/Hoffman on court three over USC's Stefan Dostanic and Bradley Frye, but the Trojans were undeterred. USC veterans Daniel Cukierman and Riley Smith held strong for a 7-5 victory over Cal's Barretto/Kaya at the top spot, and USC was on through to singles with a 1-0 lead on the board. Singles action unfurled with straight-set victories from USC's two top guns. On court one, #25 Brandon Holt cruised past Cal's #34 Yuta Kikuchi 6-0, 6-3 to drum up a 2-0 advantage for his Trojans. Fellow captain #1 Daniel Cukierman delivered next, posting a 6-3, 6-2 win over #49 Jack Molloy on court two, and USC was up 3-0. Cal would get on the board as Paul Barretto managed a 6-4, 6-2 win over #26 Riley Smith on court three to make a 3-1 with three-setters raging on the remaining courts. Hitting the finish line first was USC's #37 freshman Stefan Dostanic, who powered back from dropping the second set to Ben Draper and clinched victory for USC on a 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 decision that wrapped up action in Berkeley for the day.

DANIEL DOUBLES UP

USC junior Daniel Cukierman double-dipped his way into two trophies at the Sherwood Collegiate Cup, claiming the singles crown on Jan. 20 after he and Riley Smith teamed up for the doubles title the day prior in Thousand Oaks, Calif. Top-ranked in the nation and the top seed in the singles draw, Cukierman had a bye in the opening round and would advance by walkover into the quarterfinals. There, he'd have to contend with his freshman teammates #37 Stefan Dostanic, and it was a battle. After three sets of work, Cukierman had bested his fellow Trojan 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 to take a spot in the semifinals and put an end to Dostanic's two-win start to the spring. In the semis, Cukierman was up against Stanford's Axel Geller, and the USC captain rolled to a straight-set victory that sent him into today's title match. Again, Cukierman would gut out a three-set decision, topping Stanford's #18 Alex Rotsaert 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 to claim the Sherwood Collegiate Cup singles championship. As he lifted the singles trophy in Thousand Oaks, Cukierman was not even 24 hours past the doubles championship that he had claimed alongside Riley Smith on the same court. Paired up for just the second time in their careers, Cukierman and Smith were the top-seeded pair in the doubles draw, earning a first-round bye before launching into their winning run. The two Trojans dispatched Texas A&M's Kumar/Schachter 6-3 in the quarterfinals and Stanford's Geller/Rajesh 7-5 in the semis before mirroring that score and edging out UCLA's Nanda/K. Smith in the title match. For his winning run at Sherwood, Cukierman claimed his first career Pac-12 Player of the Week award on Jan. 21.

BRANDON STAYS PERFECT

USC senior Brandon Holt hauled in his fourth career Pac-12 Player of the Week selection after a winning weekend of road work for the Trojans. With two singles and two doubles wins in the Bay Area, Holt kept his perfect slate clean this season, as he's now 7-0 in singles and 11-0 in doubles with the Trojans in 2019-20. Currently ranked #24 in the nation in singles, Holt is the second Trojan to win the award this year, following Daniel Cukierman, and he earned USC's 55th all-time award. At No. 11 Stanford, Holt combined forces with Mor Bulis for the clinching doubles point and later secured team victory for USC with a straight-set singles win on court one. The next day at No. 15 California, the Holt again got a doubles win with Bulis and cruised to the first singles win — straight sets again, this time over a ranked foe — to help USC along to another win.

FEARSOME FALL

In fall 2019, USC had Trojans win at least one individual title at five out of seven tournaments competed in. In addition, two Trojan freshmen reached tournament title matches:

SINGLES

Daniel Cukierman — Oracle ITA Masters champion

Mor Bulis — Milwaukee Tennis Classic champion

Brandon Holt — Battle in the Bay champion

Stefan Dostanic — ITA Southwest Regional finalist

Ryder Jackson — SoCal Intercollegiate finalist

DOUBLES

Brandon Holt / Riley Smith — ITA Southwest Regional champions

Stefan Dostanic / Brandon Holt — Battle in the Bay champions

BY THE NUMBERS

USC's winningest player to date is top-ranked Daniel Cukierman, who has racked up 19 singles wins to beat out teammates Mor Bulis and Ryder Jackson with 15 apiece. In doubles, Stefan Dostanic and Bradley Frye lead the pack with seven wins so far. Holt also holds the distinction of being undefeated in both singles and doubles to date — 7-0 in singles, 5-0 in doubles with Riley Smith, 4-0 with Dostanic and 2-0 with Bulis.

LAST SEASON

USC went 22-8 overall last year with a run to the NCAA Round of 16, finishing the 2019 season ranked No. 8 in the nation while also boasting honors as the Pac-12 Tournament Champion. In earning a No. 5 seed and reaching the NCAA Singles Quartefinals, Brandon Holt closed out his junior campaign as an ITA All-American once again, along with status as the Pac-12 Player of the Year. Holt was joined on the All-Pac-12 awards list by fellow first-teamer Daniel Cukierman, with Laurens Verboven earning second-team honors and Tanner Smith on the honorable mention list. Holt, Cukierman and Tanner Smith all earned a place in the NCAA Singles draw and secured first-round wins. Additionally Holt paired with Riley Smith in the NCAA Doubles draw.

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Players Mentioned

Mor Bulis

Daniel Cukierman

Stefan Dostanic

Bradley Frye

Brandon Holt

Ryder Jackson

Jake Sands

Riley Smith

Tanner Smith

Laurens Verboven