The men’s tennis team opens the fall season this weekend as it travels to the Milwaukee Tennis Classic. The expectations for the season are at an all-time high as the Badgers are coming off of two of their best seasons in the team’s history.

Although it lost three seniors, Wisconsin returns its top two players, junior Moritz Baumann and sophomore Marek Michalicka from last year’s team. The team finished second in the Big Ten and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

In men’s tennis, the fall season is essentially a tune-up for the spring season, when Big Ten play will begin. This is the time for individuals to hone their game and prepare for a spring season already yielding high expectations.

Despite losing three seniors to graduation last year, UW coach Greg Van Emburgh is still optimistic about the upcoming season, especially with the enthusiasm he has seen from his younger players.

“We return solid players with good depth. I expect them to step up this year,” Van Emburgh said. “The players have hit it real hard in practice and conditioning for two weeks looking forward to matches. They want to put their hard work into play.”

Bauman and Michalicka will be forced to wait another week to put their preparation on the line. They will open play next weekend at Baylor, where they will be playing in a ranked tournament. 

Bauman, who was named All-Big Ten the previous two seasons, was ranked No. 28 in the NCAA rankings released Sept. 5.

Michalicka, who joined the team last January, was the first Badger ever to be named Big-Ten Freshman of the year, and he will open the season ranked No. 72. Despite the relatively low ranking, Michalicka is not discouraged for the rest of the season.

“I didn’t expect anything, I am fine with [being ranked No.] 72, and hopefully I will be better,” he said.

Now with a year of experience, Michalicka will be a better fit on the Badgers after coming from the Czech Republic to join the team last January.

As the Badgers prepare for the first half of their season, they will begin to look forward to achieving a Big Ten Championship and perhaps a deep NCAA Tournament run.

“It is always important to set higher goals, put emphasis on being the best every day,” Van Emburgh said. “Then we will be in the mix to be where we were last year.”