In yet another disappointment for Stanford men’s tennis, its top doubles team comprised of sophomores Blake Muller and Matt Bruch was forced to withdraw from the NCAA doubles championship tournament yesterday.

On Wednesday, taking on Mississippi’s Erling Tveit in the first round of the NCAA singles championship, Bruch suffered a sprained right ankle. While reaching for a wide forehand, Bruch pivoted and rolled over the ankle. The injury prevented him from completing the match, and he had to retire, down 4-1 in the first set.

Assistant coach David Hodge had previously said that a decision on whether Bruch and Muller would compete in the doubles contest would be made yesterday morning, before first-round doubles action started that afternoon. The duo was slated to play its first-round contest at 2:30 p.m. EDT. Their scheduled opponents were Nicolas Delgado and Pedro Graber of Virginia Tech, ranked No. 19 in the country.

Unfortunately, Bruch’s spained ankle proved too much. The team had to withdraw from the doubles championships, citing the injury, and was replaced by an alternate team. Robbert Lathouwers and Alex Schweizer of Auburn, No. 35 in the latest college rankings, will play in the Cardinal tandem’s place.

Muller and Bruch are the No. 12 doubles team in the country. They finished conference play this season by winning the Pacific-10 Conference doubles championship. With the title behind them, as well as the highest ranking in the Pac-10, Hodge predicted the tandem would go deep in the NCAA tourney.

With so much success and the resulting high expectations, yesterday’s end to the season couldn’t be anything but frustrating.

“I really feel for the guys,” Hodge said. “It’s a real shame.”