Stanford freshman Jagger Leach steals the show to open Arrillaga Tennis Center
This weekend, Stanford opened the new Arrillaga Tennis Center, which will be the home for Stanford men’s and women’s tennis. While I will also write about the weekend as a whole for both programs, I have to start with the amazing match that Stanford freshman Jagger Leach had to get the 4-3 win over No. 3 Wake Forest.
BOX SCORE: Wake Forest at Stanford-Friday, April 3rd
Stanford dropped the doubles point and also the first two singles matches to complete, putting them in an 0-3 hole. Alex Razeghi won his match 7-6 (5), 7-6 (2) to make it 3-1; Alex Chang won his match 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 to make it 3-2; and then Hudson Rivera won his match 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 to make it 3-3.
At this point, all eyes were on Jagger Leach, who trailed 2-5 double break in the third set to Joaquin Guilleme. Leach was on the final court, the court closest to Campus Drive. Former Stanford head coach Dick Gould was in attendance and along with everyone else, made his way over towards Leach’s court. The Demon Deacons were hoping to hang on for the win; the Cardinal were hoping to get their best win of the season on the opening day of their new stadium.
Leach would miraculously rally to win four games in a row take a 6-5 lead. He had to get two breaks and hold serve twice to get that lead. It looked many times like he was going to run out of gas, but he kept finding an extra gear to stay alive. When he broke serve to make it 5-5, Leach had all the momentum and would proceed to hold serve to make it 6-5. To Guilleme’s credit, he would hold serve to tie it up 6-6. Leach still had the momentum in the tiebreaker.
“It was looking to all the fans, looking to all my teammates, and just feeding off of the energy from them and just giving it everything I had, to try and play aggressive tennis in the big moments, to go for my shots,” Leach said of the key to battling back. “And, you know, I was just telling myself if I’m going to lose this match, I’m gonna lose it hitting the crap out of the ball and missing by an inch. I’m not going to lose by letting my opponent dictate the play.”
In the tiebreaker, Leach would maintain control despite Guilleme battling hard. Leach pulled it out 7-4 in the tiebreaker, winning the match 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (4). His teammates and coaches mobbed him in the corner as the entire crowd erupted with joy. It was truly an amazing, storybook way to cap off opening day of the Arrillaga Tennis Center.
“Absolutely. Once Chang won, I knew the momentum was on our side,” Leach said. “And then Hudson pulled through and I said okay, like, talking to myself, like it’s my turn, we have all the momentum, I’m gonna make this happen.”
“The most courageous, boldest, bravest effort I’ve ever seen,” Stanford head coach Paul Goldstein said of Leach’s performance. “Down 5-2, double break, never doubted, kept swinging! Swung even more! Gave the guy credit for playing well but kept doing his thing. Never doubted. It’s everything we’ve talked about all year. Such a, so proud. I mean, he earned it. The guy didn’t give him anything. He earned it. Every…every point. Earned it!”
For Leach, this is a moment that’s going to stick with him for a long time. To dig deep like he did and get the clinching victory to beat a top three team in the nation is a moment every athlete dreams of. And to do it while opening the new facility with John Arrillaga Jr. and Stanford president Jonathan Levin in the crowd makes it something out of a movie. It’s only fitting that in addition to Arrillaga and Levin, Goldstein tossed the third and final signed tennis ball to Leach.
“It means everything,” Leach said. “It’s been a rough season for us. We haven’t played the way that we’ve wanted to. We haven’t met the expectations that we’ve had coming in, and this is, we hit rock bottom and this is our way up. And we’re gonna fight from here. We’re gonna give it everything we have the rest of the season to try and compete for an ACC championship, a national title, and try to turn this thing around.
“The future is so bright and I’m so proud to be a part of this team…Absolutely. I’m so proud of my team. And to be a part of this and it’s pulling through for my team, this is the most incredible feeling. And I don’t think I’ll ever feel as special and you know, I don’t think there’s any feeling like this in tennis.”
On the technical side of things, just the mental fortitude that Leach showed to keep his cool and pull this match out is beyond impressive. It would have been easy for him to crumble and fold under the pressure. Instead, he rose to the challenge and delivered the goods with the weight of the entire Stanford tennis community on his shoulders. And to do it after being down a double break? That’s as impressive as it gets on a tennis court.
“The key was just, to not get down on myself and just to look at my boys and my brothers after every single point to remember why I’m fighting, who I’m fighting for, and you know, everybody’s trying so hard, fighting their hardest, and I owe it to them. I feel like I owed it to this whole team to pull through and get a win in this big match.”
This performance by Jagger Leach is going to be talked about in Stanford tennis circles for a long, long time. The moment. The stage. The occasion. None of it was too big for him. It’ll be fun to see how the rest of the season goes for Leach and the Cardinal. They certainly have a lot of momentum after this one.
“Thank you to John and Laura Arrillaga for making this possible,” Goldstein said. “It doesn’t happen without them. This doesn’t, this event, this doesn’t happen without them.”
“It means everything,” Leach added. “And like, I’m so grateful from the generosity from the Arrillagas to you know, make this dream a reality and to build us this incredible facility. It is so amazing to be part of and it means everything and I hope I can win a lot more big matches for this team in this stadium.”
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