The Wisconsin men’s tennis team is set to host the 26th annual Big Ten Men’s Singles Championship starting Friday at Nielsen Tennis Stadium. The top men’s players from around the conference are scheduled to take part in the four-day event.
Head coach Pat Klingelhoets says the Badgers are planning to play aggressively and to take advantage of playing on their home turf.
“We have been concentrating on our singles play all week,” said coach Klingelhoets. “We just want our guys to play aggressive, stay loose and play with without any fear.”
Playing without fear is what the Badgers need to do to advance in the tourney. Coach Klingelhoets would like to see many of his Badgers progress to the top 16.
Alex Kasarov holds the highest seed for the Badgers at No. 9, while Jeremy Sonkin holds the second-highest rank for the Badgers at No. 14.
Michigan State’s Andy Formanczyk holds the top seed in the tourney, while Joey Atas of Ohio State and Avery Ticer are seeded No. 2 and No. 3, respectively.
Although the Badgers are not ranked highly, coach Klingelhoets believes anything could happen this weekend.
“This tournament is very even and the players are all very even,” he said. “It’s a wide open tournament — no clear favorite by any means. It’s a great opportunity for us to be competing at home and it’s a great opportunity for our lower ranked guys to get a shot at playing guys ranked high from other schools. We want to walk out of our fall season feeling good about ourselves.”
In order for the Badgers to advance and end the fall season on a high note, they have to come out strong and win their first couple matches against some of the best players in the Big Ten.
Friday, six hungry Badgers are ready and set to compete. The freshmen squad of Elliot Bisnow and Felipe Bellido will showcase their talents against Boliermakers Scott Warner and Sounak Chatterjee. Jeremy Sonkin will take on Penn State’s Michael James and Brian Ko will compete against Minnesota’s Adrien Debreyne.
Senior standout Alex Kasarov will battle Illinois’ Ruben Gonzales and sophomore Mark Weinig is set to match up with an unknown qualifier.
The Tournament consists of a main draw, two consolation draws and a qualifying draw. The main draw is comprised of 56 Big Ten hopefuls. Each university was allowed to enter five of its top athletes, while the home team Wisconsin was allowed to enter its top six.
Competition kicks off at 9 a.m. The semifinals and finals will be played Monday starting at 9 a.m. and noon, respectively. The tournament is free and open to the public.
