The Wisconsin men’s tennis team (8-12, 2-7 Big Ten) hopes to end their regular season with a Big Ten victory today when they play host to No. 30 Ohio State (16-6, 7-1) at 3 p.m. at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium.

While Wisconsin has a 32-29 all-time record against Ohio State, the Buckeyes have won the last nine matches including victories over the Badgers in the Big Ten Championships over the past four years. In last year’s regular season match, the Buckeyes shut out the Badgers 7-0 in Columbus.

Today’s match will play a large factor in determining Wisconsin’s seeding for the upcoming Big Ten tournament. A victory for the Badgers will guarantee the No. 9 seed, however, a Wisconsin loss and Iowa win will drop the Badgers to the No. 10 seed. Although Ohio State has secured the No. 2 seed regardless of today’s outcome, head coach Pat Klingelhoets does not see the Buckeyes taking the match lightly.

“We’re going to have to play really well,” Klingelhoets said. “They’re a real solid team — doubles is good, singles lineup is good all the way down. We’re going to have to play one of our better matches of the year, so hopefully we can catch a couple of their guys a little off and have a chance to win.”

The Bulgarian duo of brothers Alex and Lachezar Kasarov will have their hands full in the No. 1 doubles match, as they will most likely face the Ohio State partnership of juniors Scott Green and Ross Wilson, which is ranked No. 1 in the ITA doubles poll. At the No. 3 doubles spot, Wisconsin freshman Jeremy Sonkin and junior Mark Weinig look to continue their strong play following a victory over Illinois last week. The two will square off against the tandem of sophomore Joey Atlas and freshman Drew Eberly who have lost only once in their last 14 matches.

In singles action, Klingelhoets is anticipating close matches throughout, and believes inclement weather could play in Wisconsin’s favor, as the match would be moved indoors, giving the Badgers a home court advantage.

“There’s going to be some really good matches,” Klingelhoets said. “I guess I’m looking forward to seeing how our top guys, Alex [Kasarov] and Jeremy [Sonkin], can step up and get it done against some really strong players — but there is going to be good matches all the way down the line. Hopefully [the courts] will help us a little bit. We’re really comfortable on these courts so if we do go indoors then I think that could help us out, but we’ll wait and see on the weather.”

At the No. 1 singles position, senior Alex Kasarov will play his final match at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium against No. 56 Devin Mullings. The sophomore Mullings, 24-8 overall in singles, is currently riding a 13-match win streak and was honored as the Big Ten Athlete of the Week on April 20.

Mullings’ teammate, junior Ross Wilson, has also been playing inspirationally lately, winning 13 out of his last 15 matches at the No. 6 singles position.

Ohio State’s overall singles lineup is an opposing coach’s nightmare due to each player’s athletic ability and the assortment of playing styles each has to offer.

“They’ve got a lot of variety,” Klingelhoets said. “They got a guy like Scott Green who is a pure serve-and-volley player, but then they’ve also got a number of guys who just like to sit on the baseline and grind it out too. [Devin] Mullings, who might play the one spot, he will just sit back and hit a million balls, [Chris] Klingemann is the same way … they have a good combination of guys and they’re all good players.”

Despite the Buckeyes’ superior record, Wisconsin freshman Jeremy Sonkin does not feel intimidated and has instead focused his attention on earning a better seed in the Big Ten Tournament.

“[Ohio State] is going to be a big match,” Sonkin said. “We really want this one because it will help us a lot with the seeding for the Big Ten tournament and give us a better shot. We really need to come out on fire … all the guys need to be ready to go, well-rested and ready to play because it’s going to be a tough match all throughout the lineup. I think if we give it our best effort and fight as hard as we can, we can come out with the win.”