With four recruits first donning the cardinal and gold this spring, the men’s tennis roster appears drastically different from just months ago. Freshmen Branko Djuric, Max Exsted, Sklar Phillips and junior transfer Andrin Casanova all made their USC debuts in January, marking a period of change for the newly assembled squad.

The Trojans (4-3) had a fall season to forget, failing to earn a single spot at the NCAA Individual Championship in November. The preseason offers No. 22 USC a chance to reset — time to build chemistry and find momentum before conference play in March. This task, although simple, was never going to be easy.

Reality hit hard against No. 9 UCF (7-0), as the Trojans’ Intercollegiate Tennis Association Indoor Championship hopes were shattered in a 4-0 defeat on Jan. 23.

Amid the shifting roster, one thing remained the same — the indomitable Trojan spirit. The next day, USC thrashed No. 23 UC Berkeley (5-4) by a score of 4-1 in the consolation round, returning to Southern California with something to smile about. 

They wouldn’t be home for long, however, as Head Coach Brett Masi and company traveled to Northern California for a rematch against Cal and a showdown against No. 3 Stanford (6-0) last weekend. 

USC split the two matches, earning its second straight road win over Berkeley in a 4-3 victory before suffering a 4-1 loss to Stanford.

Trojans clinch victory over Golden Bears

Neither USC nor Cal opted to alter their doubles lineups from the week prior, when Berkeley won the doubles point. This decision proved to be a smart one from Masi, as the Trojans dominated in the rematch.

Graduate student Jack McCarthy and Casanova began proceedings with a 6-4 shock victory over Cal’s No. 55-ranked pairing of senior Tiago Silva and junior Timofey Stepanov.

Sophomore Nathan Trouve, who returned following an autumn hiatus, and Exsted, who was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week twice in January, went on to beat junior Alex Aney and freshman Leonardo Cattaneo 6-3, finishing the job for the Trojans.

While many of the singles bouts were tightly contested, it was USC who took the early lead. Djuric eased past Silva in straight 6-2 sets while Exsted continued his hot streak, thoroughly dispatching Golden Bear freshman Andrea Meduri 6-0, 6-3.

Just as quickly as the Trojans took the lead, the Bears began mounting a comeback. McCarthy, who had won only one of five singles matches to start the preseason, swiftly fell 6-2, 6-1 to Stepanov, adding to a difficult start to his year. Sophomore Niels Hoffmann lost in identical 6-3 sets to sophomore Bernardo Munk Mesa, further complicating matters for USC.

As momentum swung in Berkeley’s favor, Trouve seemed to succumb to the pressure in his matchup against sophomore Fryderyk Lechno-Wasiutynski. He lost the first set 7-5, but was able to promptly reduce the deficit, winning the second set 6-4. A third set was required, and it went the distance, with Lechno-Wasiutynski narrowly emerging victorious 7-6 (7-3) in a thrilling affair.

With the Bears eyeing the opportunity to complete the turnaround of dreams, all eyes turned toward Casanova in his clash against junior Lenn Luemkemann. Casanova took the first set, but Luemkemann was victorious in the second, offering Berkeley a glimmer of hope. 

This faith was short-lived, however, as Casanova secured the last set, taking the match 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. 

“It’s never easy to win against a team twice. The odds were definitely stacked against us,” Masi said in an interview with the Daily Trojan. “I’m really pleased about [our] growth. Two weeks ago, I didn’t know if we’d win that match.”

Stanford comfortably defeats USC

While USC crossed the San Francisco Bay in high spirits following Saturday’s victory, the squad was in for a rude awakening in their Sunday duel against No. 3 Stanford.

Djuric was unavailable against the Cardinal due to international duty, representing Serbia at the Davis Cup. His absence was clearly felt.

The Trojans began feebly in doubles, as freshman Pablo Robledo Hoyos and sophomore Connor Church were defeated 6-1 in their first competitive match as partners. Exsted and Trouve did nothing to help matters, losing 6-3 to graduate student Alex Chang and freshman Jagger Leach. 

With the doubles point in Stanford’s possession, USC was forced to rely on its singles talent to grind out a win. While Trouve put up an impressive 6-3, 6-2 victory over senior Samir Banerjee, it proved to be nothing more than a consolation, as the Trojans went on to drop their next three solo bouts.

Church and McCarthy were defeated by matching 6-3, 7-6 scorelines to freshman Mark Krupkin and junior Hudson Rivera, respectively. Both Trojans fell by virtue of a second-set tiebreaker.

In USC’s final opportunity to salvage a point against the Cardinal, Hoffmann took a first-set lead but was bagelled by Leach in the third, falling 3-6, 6-4, 6-0 and contributing to a 4-1 loss overall.

“You’re on the road, you’re in a different environment. Everything has to go perfectly, and we haven’t gotten there yet,” Masi said. “But I think we’re really close.”

Despite Sunday’s stinging defeat, Masi said the Trojans walked away with valuable experience, using it to prepare for and build camaraderie for future away matches.

“We just finished our first month together, and this group has done an outstanding job of becoming a really close unit, just like a family in a lot of ways,” Masi said.

With one month left until Big Ten play gets underway, men’s tennis returns home for a doubleheader against the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (4-1) and UC Irvine (0-2) at David X. Marks Tennis Stadium on Sunday.