After advancing to the second round of the Big Ten Tournament with a 4-0 victory over Iowa, the Wisconsin men's tennis team fell in the quarterfinals to Ohio State 4-0 on Friday morning.
The top-seeded Buckeyes have shutout 16 of their last 22 opponents and went on to win the tournament title, making it their fourth in as many years.
Fresh from their Thursday bye, the Buckeyes wasted no time in doubles, collecting their first win at No. 2 as sophomores Matt Allare and Balazs Novak defeated the Badger pair of senior Michael Muskievicz and Michael Dierberger 8-5. At No. 3 junior Luke Rassow-Kantor and freshman Patrick Pohlmann hung tight with senior Bryan Koniecko and sophomore Shuhei Uzawa, but the Buckeyes broke late to take the match 9-7 and suspend play at No. 1 where No. 22 junior Moritz Baumann and sophomore Marek Michalicka were down a break to No. 17 senior Steven Moneke and junior Justin Kronauge 8-7.
The Buckeyes pulled away in singles where No. 108 Allare finished first, dismissing sophomore Peter Marrack 6-2, 6-1 at No. 4 to extend his personal winning streak to 26. Rassow-Kantor fell next as newcomer Chase Buchanan overpowered him at No. 6, and the Buckeyes ended the struggle when Novak downed Dierberger 6-3, 6-2. With the result determined, play was suspended in the top three positions where only Baumann had collected a set, taking his first 6-4 against No. 3 Koniecko but losing his second.
On Saturday Ohio gave Michigan a similar treatment, defeating the Wolverines 4-1 before repeating their performance against the Illini for the title and finishing with 23 straight victories and 31-1 overall.
The Badgers returned home to wait for the NCAA bracket announcement to see if they will make it to the tournament with a third consecutive at-large bid.
—uwbadgers.com contributed to this report.
