The UW men's tennis team looks to begin its final stretch of Big Ten play on a high note as it hosts No. 30 Michigan (2-0 Big Ten, 8-6 overall) this Saturday at Nielsen Tennis Stadium.
The Badgers (1-1, 8-5) look to regain their momentum after losing Friday to South Florida. Previous to that outcome, the Badgers had swept five straight matches, including victories against Big Ten foe Michigan State and in-state rival Marquette.
We're obviously going to try to use the momentum from sweeping some of those matches,\ head coach Greg Van Emburgh said.
The Badgers welcome an accomplished Michigan squad. The Wolverines boast a player in the top 50, No. 47 Matko Maravic at No. 1 singles, and No. 2 singles player Brian Hung has earned two Big Ten Athlete of the Week awards this season. These two players collaborate to form the No. 8 doubles team in the nation.
No. 1 Badgers singles player Jeremy Sonkin will be the one to try and take out Maravic Saturday. The sophomore has beaten the Wolverines' No. 1 before, but knows that this is a new match and a new year.
""I've got to come out and play every match as I have this entire year, just really focused, really intense, and just go for my shots and play my game,"" Sonkin said.
""I think Jeremy has a chance against whoever he plays,"" Van Emburgh said.
Sonkin will team up with sophomore Nolan Polley to try and defeat Maravic and Hung at the No. 1 doubles spot. Coach Van Emburgh believes that the Badger duo has a good chance, and if they come out ready to play, they can take them down. Sonkin echoed his coach's confidence.
""Me and Nolan, we have really developed a game style to compliment each other. We both have good returns, big serves, and we both hold a lot. I'm really confident that we can get that one break [of serve] we need. I think we can hold the entire time and get the win,"" Sonkin said.
Recently, sophomore Felipe Bellido has given a huge lift to the team at the No. 5 singles position. Bellido has won six consecutive singles matches, and was a part of both points of the team's 5-2 loss to South Florida. The Lima, Peru native has not done anything complex during his current run of success.
""I'm just trying to have fun and play as well as I can,"" Bellido said.
The Badgers have lofty goals headed into the thick of the Big Ten season, including being in the top four in the conference. Achieving this goal would likely put them in the NCAA tournament, and, according to Coach Van Emburgh, would require four or five more conference wins.
""Right now we're taking it one match at a time, and every match is tough,"" Van Emburgh said. ""If it's the best team in the country or it's an unranked team, we need to be ready to play, we need to make sure we're proving [our talent] every time we step on the court.""
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