After losing five consecutive matches to ranked opponents earlier this season, the UW men's tennis team defeated two ranked opponents in the past five days.
Monday night, the No. 62 Badgers knocked off No. 29 Texas Christian 5-2 at Nielsen Tennis Stadium. They preceded that triumph with a 7-0 sweep of No. 71 Northwestern Saturday afternoon in Madison.
The Badgers had the Horned Frogs (0-0 Mountain West, 10-3 overall) on the ropes after capturing the opening doubles point by winning two of three doubles matches. The UW duo of senior Jeremy Sonkin and sophomore Luke Rassow-Kantor, ranked No. 37 in the nation, took down TCU's Emanu Brighiu and Adrian Simon 8-3 at the No. 2 doubles position. Sonkin and Rassow-Kantor remain unbeaten this season at that spot.
Wisconsin (1-0 Big Ten, 7-5) took four of six singles matches for the final margin. At the No. 3 singles slot, senior Nolan Polley defeated Simon in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2, to secure the Badgers' third consecutive win. In a clash of two of the nation's top players at No. 1 singles, Badger sophomore Moritz Baumann, ranked 50th in the nation, was barely defeated in a third-set super tiebreak by No. 21 Cosmin Cotet of TCU 6-1, 5-7, (10-5).
Saturday, the Badgers swept the Wildcats (0-3, 6-9) to clinch their first victory over Northwestern in 19 tries, as well as their first conference win of the spring season.
After a close doubles session in which UW took two of three matches to eke out the opening point, the Badgers cruised through singles play, winning all but one match in straight sets. Polley clinched the match, giving the Badgers the needed four points with a decisive 6-2, 6-2 victory over Northwestern's Alex Sanborn at the No. 2 spot.
Looking ahead, the Badgers will head to the Blue/Gray Team Invitational in Montgomery, Ala., this weekend from March 13-16. No. 15 Notre Dame, No. 23 Auburn, No. 30 Texas Tech, No. 42 North Carolina State, No. 45 Fresno State and No. 64 Penn State are among the teams competing in the tournament.
They will then look to remain unbeaten in the Big Ten with two consecutive road matches at No. 8 Michigan on March 21, and at Penn State (1-0, 4-5) on March 23. The Wolverines (1-0, 9-2) have won three straight matches, while their only losses have come at the hands of two top-five opponents, No. 1 Virginia and No. 4 Texas.
Women
The UW women's tennis team split a pair of matches this past weekend in Evanston, Ill.
Friday, the Badgers were swept by conference foe Northwestern, the nation's top-ranked team, 7-0. Junior Elizabeth Carpenter came the closest to registering a victory, nearly upsetting No. 4 Maria Mosolova of the Wildcats.
After winning the first set 6-4, Carpenter was blown away 6-0 in the second set before falling in a third-set super tiebreak to determine the match winner. The Badgers dropped to 0-2 in the Big Ten.
Saturday, UW improved its overall record to 5-7 with a narrow 4-3 defeat of Harvard. After capturing the doubles point by winning two of three doubles contests, the Badgers won each match at singles spots four through six to secure the victory. Freshman Jessica Seyferth and seniors Morgan Tuttle and Chelsea Nusslock each picked up wins for the Badgers.
Over the break, UW will aim to close out its non-conference play on a high note and earn its first conference victory of the spring season. The Badgers will play consecutive home matches this weekend, taking on No. 23 Michigan Friday night, followed by a match against Miami (Ohio) on Saturday afternoon. Wisconsin will also play at Florida Central on March 23.
- uwbadgers.com contributed to this report.
