The UW men’s tennis team (1-2) fell to No. 63 Western Michigan (3-2) this Saturday, 4-3, at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium. The loss marked the second straight loss for the men’s team.
Wisconsin lost the first two doubles matches after the Broncos recorded victories in the No.1 and No. 3 spots. The freshman duo of Elliot Bisnow and Jeremy Sonkin lost 8-4 to Western Michigan’s Jeff French and Bryan Norville. Badger brothers Alex and Lachezar Kasarov dropped their matchup with the Bronco duet of Tommy Dennis and Brady Crosby 8-5. Juniors Jordan Raemisch and Mark Weinig were the only Badger duo to capture a victory by winning at No. 2 doubles by a score of 8-6 over Tim Bradshaw and Jose Orozco.
“The doubles point ended up being the deciding factor,” UW coach Pat Klingelhoets said. “We knew coming in the doubles point would be big, but we ended up being a little flat. But give Western Michigan some credit, they played really good doubles and took it from us. Even losing the point, we felt like we had a chance to still win the match.”
In singles, Western Michigan extended its lead to 4-0 by winning the No. 6, No. 3 and No. 4 matches, respectively. French defeated UW freshman Brian Ko, while Bradshaw and Crosby also posted victories for the Broncos.
UW front man Alex Kasarov was the first Badger to put points on the board, winning both sets, 7-5 and 6-2, against Orozco.
“The match started pretty slow in the beginning,” Kasarov said. “He came up firing serves and was up 5-2. I turned up the level and got into my zone and won 7-5, 6-2.”
Following his brother’s lead, sophomore Lachezar Kasarov was victorious in the No. 5 singles match by defeating Alex Birchmeier, 7-6 (1), 6-3. Jeremy Sonkin claimed the last win for the Badgers, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, in a heated match against Tommy Dennis at No. 2 singles.
“I was pleased with all our wins in singles,” Klingelhoets added. “Alex and Jeremy especially played some tough opponents, and Lachezar hadn’t played for a while (in singles) but still got a win.”
The Badgers continue the action this Wednesday at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium when they battle DePaul University. The Blue Demons lost to Western Michigan last week, but were victorious against Valparaiso, 7-0, the following day. The dual kicks off at 4 p.m.
