The Wisconsin men's tennis team (0-4 Big Ten, 3-7 overall) hosts in-state rival Marquette tonight at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium. Wisconsin has dominated the Golden Eagles, boasting an amazing 40-2-1 series record and 23-1-1 mark at home against Marquette. Last year UW won 5-2 when returning Badgers senior Alex Kasarov and junior Mark Weinig recorded wins at the number one and six spots, respectively.
The Badgers are coming off a tough Big Ten road trip, during which they lost to Michigan State, Michigan, and Iowa. They have had four matches this year decided by one point, but only once has that edge gone their direction. The Iowa battle came down to one match that did not swing the Badgers' way in the end. While Wisconsin failed to capitalize in their last meet it will try and turn things around with a big win tonight.
Freshman Jeremy Sonkin looks to lead the charge at the number two spot with a 7-2 overall singles record.
\I'm feeling pretty confident, not just for myself, but for our team,"" Sonkin said. ""We are a good team, and we feel we can win. We just need to work out our weaknesses. We'll be able to turn it around. We're not worried at all.""
Head Coach Pat Klingelhoets is not worried either, and while he acknowledges the difficulty of playing on the road, he does not use it as an excuse. He looks more to the fact that no doubles team has a winning record this year.
""We've got to get more intensity going in our doubles. When we go on the road, our freshmen have backed off a bit and not played with the same emotion we play with at home. We feel pretty good about our singles, but we have to improve in our doubles,"" said Klingelhoets.
The Wisconsin women's tennis team (0-1, 5-4) takes on DePaul Saturday who have been riding a nine-game-win streak coming into Madison. The women's team has put together a solid season so far, with two 7-0 victories in its last three matches. The Badgers have not played in two weeks, but rust does not seem to be a concern. Practices have been solid, with more focus on their doubles teams, especially the one and two spots.
The number one singles player for the team, senior Katie McGaffigan, has moved back into the rankings and is now No. 77 in the country. Freshman standout Chelsea Nusslock has been playing very well in the number six spot. She has a singles record of 7-2 and is currently on a five-match win streak.
""She's been doing a really good job so far in that division,"" said head coach Patti Henderson of Nusslock.
After losing two key players last season, the Badgers are looking to teach their new students, who so far have been playing well enough to make sure the team hangs onto its winning record.
""We're definitely really young, but our confidence is building,"" said sophomore Caitlin Burke, who, although unranked, has pulled off three upsets of players in the top 65.
Both matches are at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium. The men's match is this afternoon at 4 p.m., and the women's match is Saturday at 1 p.m.
