Wisconsin tennis opened its season last weekend by competing in the seventh annual H.E.B. Baylor Invitational at the Baylor Tennis Center in Waco, Texas.
Sophomore Moritz Baumann stood out for Wisconsin by winning five matches and reaching the finals before suffering defeat to tournament winner Kellen Damico, a freshman from Texas.
Baumann highlighted his successful weekend by beating highly ranked Mississippi senior Erling Tviet in the quarterfinals. Tviet was the No. 1 seed in the 64 player tournament and is ranked No. 7 in the FILA/Intercollegiate Tennis Association's national rankings.
Baumann himself came into the weekend as the No. 6 seed in the tournament and had a national ranking of 49, one that may rise after his impressive play.
Without dropping a set, Baumann defeated senior Matt Bain of Texas A&M and David Costa of Texas-Arlington during the first two rounds of the tournament.
Baumann did not lose a set on the second day of action, either.
He blew past Baylor's Denes Lukas (6-2, 6-1) and then upset Tviet (7-6, 6-4) in a more competitive match to advance to the final day of competition.
Sunday started out well for Baumann, as he defeated Matt Brown of Baylor (7-5, 6-2) to move on to the finals.
Unfortunately, Baumann's long run came to an end later on Sunday against Damico (6-2, 6-3). Before the match, Baumann had not lost a single set all weekend.
The Badgers brought a total of four players to the tournament, but besides Baumann, none of the participants advanced past the first day of competition.
Senior Jeremy Sonkin, who is ranked No. 87 in the nation and held the No. 14 seed in the tournament, won his first match in three sets against Dimitry Minkin of Texas-Arlington, and then fell in another three-set match to Baylor sophomore Atilla Bucko.
Wisconsin's only other nationally ranked player, senior Nolan Polley, was bounced in the first round in straight sets by freshman Jordan Rux of Baylor.
Wisconsin's fourth entrant, sophomore Luke Rassow-Kantor, won his opening round match against Texas Tech junior Christian Rojmar in straight sets. But Rassow-Kantor fell in the second round in two sets to sophomore Denes Lukas of Baylor. Lukas, in turn, was defeated by Baumann.
Wisconsin also teamed up Baumann and Polley last weekend to compete in the doubles tournament at the Invitational. The duo defeated Kayvon Karimi and Brad Williams of Texas before falling in the next round to Mississippi's Tviet and junior Jonas Berg. Baumann's participation in the doubles tournament meant he played a total of eight matches in the course of three days.
It was an exciting start for Baumann and the Badgers, a team that hopes to build on last year's NCAA Tournament selection, its first since 1998. Wisconsin will head south again Oct. 1 to compete in the ITA All-American Championship at the Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Okla.
-uwbadgers.com contributed to this report.
