The Wisconsin men’s tennis team got a much-needed victory over the Marquette Golden Eagles (7-9, 0-2 C-USA) Wednesday afternoon. The Badgers (4-7, 0-4 Big Ten) had dropped three straight prior to the match. The losses came against Big Ten foes Michigan, Michigan State and Iowa in what was a tough road trip for the team, but the Badgers came out strong against Marquette, winning the doubles portion of the match and nearly sweeping the singles in a decisive 6-1 win.
“I think these guys really need it because we’ve had some tough losses,” head coach Pat Klingelhoets said. “They needed to win. I think it helps those guys to feel like, ‘Yeah, we are a good team, and we’re getting better.'”
Marquette, against whom the Badgers haven’t lost since 1996, came out ready in the doubles. In the No. 2 spot, Brett Binkley and Pete Van Lieshout dominated Wisconsin’s duo of Mark Weinig and Jordan Raemisch, taking the match 8-3.
It looked like the Badgers were going to start the day trailing as Troy Delmege and Eigis Vedrickas battled hard in the No. 1 flight against UW’s Kasarov brothers, senior Alex and sophomore Lachezar, and nearly took the match. But the Kasarovs were not to be beat and won it going away 8-5.
In the decisive doubles match, Wisconsin’s Elliot Bisnow and Jeremy Sonkin dueled with Marquette’s Ian Kawas and Ricky Servoss at the No. 3 flight. The pairs went back and forth, and UW came out on top with a 9-7 win and 1-0 lead in the match.
Despite the win, Klingelhoets felt the Badgers should have done better.
“We won, but we really didn’t play very well,” Klingelhoets said. “We came out a little bit flat, and we were actually lucky to win the doubles.”
Wisconsin looked more solid right away in singles play. Alex Kasarov dominated his opponent, Vedrickas, and took the match in straight sets 6-0 and 6-1.
“I felt really great out there. Everything was going my way,” Kasarov said. “Once my serve was going, which is a big part of my game, I felt great, like I couldn’t miss a ball.”
As if taking a cue from the team captain Kasarov, Sonkin played strong in the No. 2 flight against the Golden Eagles’ Delmege. Sonkin took the first set easily 6-0, but he ran into some trouble in the second set. Delmege matched Sonkin game for game before Sonkin finally put him away 6-4.
“The thought of going to a third set crossed my mind, and I said, ‘No way. You’re a much better player than this kid, and that should not be happening,'” Sonkin said of the second set. “I just brought up the level of my game, and I did what I had to do.”
The match winner came at the hands of the younger Kasarov. Lachezar “Lance” Kasarov won his first set against Kawas 6-4. Looking over to his teammates, he could see his older brother and Sonkin winning their matches. Up 5-0 already in his second set, he quickly disposed of his opponent and the Badgers collected their fourth win of the season.
“I was happy to end that 4-0,” Lachezar said.
In the No. 4 flight, Felipe Bellido took Marquette’s Brett Binkley 6-3 and 6-2. At No. 5, UW’s Brian Ko dominated Greg Sirotek in the first set, taking it 6-0. Sirotek gave Ko some trouble in the second set, but Ko came out with the 7-5 win and the match.
The only singles loss on the day came at the hands of the Golden Eagles’ Lieshout, who also helped win his doubles match. In a tightly contested match, he beat Wisconsin’s Steve Guntly 7-5 and 6-4.
In what was a typical match between the Badgers and the Golden Eagles, the Badgers came away with a win and some hope.
“It’s another step forward,” said Sonkin. “We’ve had a rough couple of matches, and I think we can prove that we’re one of the better teams out there, despite what we’ve shown in the past.”
With the win, the Badgers got an improved showing from their top man, Alex Kasarov, whose 7-12 record going into the match was somewhat disappointing. Four of the six singles players now have winning records, with Kasarov and Guntly (2-7) the only sub-.500 team members.
