The No. 30 Wisconsin Badgers continued their undefeated start to Big Ten play Friday night as they upset the No. 19 Northwestern Wildcats 4-2, beating the Wildcats for the first time since 2011.
“I’m extremely happy for the guys because it’s the reward [for the work] they’ve put in since September,” head coach Danny Westerman said.
The Badgers started out strong in the doubles matches, as has become tradition, earning the point after clinching the best of three matches with two quick wins. In the No. 2 line, junior Lamar Remy and freshman Chase Colton broke at 3-4 to turn the match around on a powerful winner from Colton. In the final game, Remy started with a bang, serving an ace on the first point and cruising to a win to give Wisconsin a 1-0 overall lead. The pair fed off each other’s energy, and they’ve found a home in the No. 2 line, earning a stellar record of 12-2.
The Badgers improved to 67-31 in doubles matches, which have become their biggest asset this season.
Freshman Daniel Soyfer won a fiery match 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) against Michael Lorenzi to continue his great start to the year. The freshman from Plantation, Fla., started strong, winning a break point and finishing out the first set easily. The second set went back and forth, and Lorenzi saw a game point opportunity at 4-5. But Soyfer quickly broke and later earned his own match point at 6-5. Lorenzi tied it up, but Soyfer found extra energy in the tiebreaker, winning 7-3 to continue an impressive 11-2 record to start his college career and earning another point for the Badgers.
Junior Chema Carranza won his singles match on the No. 4 line against Ben Vanixhorn 6-3, 6-4. The Spaniard was in control for most of the match, impressing with his inside-out forehand. Carranza won at deuce in his first set and clinched the match by smacking home a winner at 5-4.
Junior Josef Dodridge clinched his match, winning a pair of 6-2 sets on the No. 2 line against Konrad Zieba. The junior from Bournemouth, England, cruised in the first set after reaching 4-1. When his two-set win sealed the upset victory for the Badgers, Dodridge’s teammates mobbed him in celebration.
Sophomore Osgar O’Hoisin started strong in the No. 3 line, breaking to reach 2-0, but freshman Dominik Stary fought back to win the set 4-6. O’Hoisin never recovered, and he dropped the second set 2-6.
Despite their wins together in doubles, Remy and Colton faced tougher matches on the No. 1 and No. 5 lines. Remy, the team captain from Roslyn, N.Y., lost a pair of sets 4-6 against Strong Kirchheimer. The sets were close, but Remy was visibly frustrated after the first set loss. Kirchheimer clinched the final set in his service game, but by that point the match had long been decided. Colton lost his first set 6-7 (6-8) to Jason Seidman, though he showed some fire with a ferocious comeback to nearly win. After facing set point down 2-5, Colton won the next game and shouted at himself for motivation. He quickly broke to tie the set up at 5-5 before Seidman broke again to reach 5-6. Colton would force a tiebreaker, but lost 6-8 after some tightly contested tennis. He kept his fire going in the second set, but the match was stopped after the Badgers clinched the overall win.
