The Wisconsin men’s tennis team (8-7, 0-1 Big Ten) racked up a win and a loss this weekend, beating Wright State (3-8) 7–0 Friday but losing to the Minnesota Gophers (8-3, 1-0) by an aggregate score of 5–2 Sunday. 

The Badgers started strong in their first match since the ITA National Championships, as they quickly took the doubles point from Wright State. The Badgers’ Martim Vilela and Robert Krill won the first set, sweeping Carlos Sanchez and William Morton of Wright State 6–0. The Badger duo Gabriel Huber and Robin Parts clinched the doubles point with a victory over Javier Alvarez and Leighton Brandon by a score of 6–2. 

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Singles play became a singles massacre after each Badger bested their opponent in two sets. Parts and Lenard Soha gave the Badgers their first two singles points with Parts defeating Sanchez 6–1, 6–0 and Soha beating Morton 6–3, 6–1. 

Jared Pratt clinched the match when he bested Alvarez 6–4, 6–0. The rest of the team went on undefeated after the match had already been decided handily. Chase Colton dispatched Param Pun 6–1, 6–3. Krill destroyed Theo Bourghelle 6–1, 6–1. Huber was the sole Badger with a contested match as he defeated Leighton Brandon after a good fight, winning 7–6, 6–4. 

Despite sweeping Wright State, the Badgers lost their first non-tournament conference match of the season to the Gophers 5–2. Their show of strength against Wright State, unfortunately, did not continue through to their subsequent match.

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In only two sets, the No. 40 ranked Gophers won the all-important doubles point. The Gopher duo of Siim Troost and Vlad Lobak bested Pratt and Colton 6–4. The Eli Ogilvy and Sebastian Vile duo bested Krill and Vilela 6–2. Huber and Part’s match went unfinished with 4–4. 

In singles play, Huber and Parts both won their points after a highly competitive three-set battle. Parts made a comeback against Vile to win 5–7, 7–6 and 10–4, while Huber fended off a comeback from Troost to win 6–6, 3–6, 6–3. 

Chase Colton also forced his match to three sets before ultimately losing to Stefan Milicevic 4–6, 6–3 and 10–8. 

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The Gophers beat the rest of the Badgers within two sets, with Lobak defeating Pratt 6–2, 6–1, Olgivy defeating Krill 6–2, 7–5 and Jackson Allen besting Soha 6–1, 7–6. 

The Badgers will play their next match on the road as they face off against Nebraska, Friday at 5 p.m.