Hanfmann receives Pac-12 Player of the Week honors


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On Tuesday, the Pac-12  announced that junior Yannick Hanfmann had earned its Player of the Week award.

The Karlsruhe, Germany native has yet to drop a set in singles or doubles play this season for the Trojans, proving instrumental in USC’s undefeated start to this season.

Undefeated · Junior Yannick Hanfmann has opened up the season without dropping a set for the Trojans in either singles or doubles. - Ralf Cheung | Daily Trojan

Undefeated · Junior Yannick Hanfmann has opened up the season without dropping a set for the Trojans in either singles or doubles. – Ralf Cheung | Daily Trojan

Last weekend, USC hosted the inaugural Pac-12/SEC Showdown, where the No. 4 Trojans battled the No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs and the No. 11 Florida Gators. Against Georgia, Hanfmann and his doubles partner, senior Ray Sarmiento, set the tone by taking home a 6-2 victory over Georgia’s top doubles squad in Hernus Pieters and Ben Wagland. The doubles team of Hanfmann and Sarmiento are unranked by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, while Pieters and Wagland are ranked 12th in the nation.

After USC narrowly won the doubles point, Hanfmann, ranked No. 32 by the ITA in singles, gave the Trojans a 2-0 lead with his straight-set victory over Georgia’s Nathan Pasha on court two. The first set was close, but Hanfmann turned up the heat in the tiebreak and never looked back, upsetting No. 21 Pasha by a score of 6-5, 6-1.

Hanfmann delivered a similar performance in USC’s match against Florida. At the top doubles spot, he and Sarmiento vanquished their opponents, Stephane Piro and Michael Alford, 6-3, to clinch the doubles point for the Trojans.

In singles, he again took the first set over his opponent in a nail-biting tiebreak, but flexed his muscle in the second set, ultimately winning his match against Florida’s No. 28 Piro, 6-5(5), 6-2.

Hanfmann has been battling injury since last season, but that hasn’t stopped him from maintaining success. His help in leading the Trojans to two sweeps of their opponents propelled USC to the No. 3 slot in the nation in the latest ITA rankings.

In the first round of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend tournament last month, Hanfmann took Sarmiento’s place at the top singles slot and delivered a strong performance, leading his opponent 6-2, 4-3 before his teammates clinched the match and suspended play for the rest of the Trojans.

During the fall season, Hanfmann took home the singles crown at the ITA Southwest Regional Championship, taking down Pepperdine’s Alex Sarkissian, 6-3, 4-6, 6-0.

Last season, Hanfmann strung together a remarkable 17-match winning streak, alternating between courts two, three, four and five for the Trojans.

This is the first time this season a Trojan has won Pac-12 Player of the Week and it is the fourth time Hanfmann has earned it in his USC career.