With eyes on the Big Ten Tournament and the NCAA tournament, the Wisconsin men’s tennis team can’t afford get too ahead of itself.
The Badgers will hit the road this weekend, facing the Iowa Hawkeyes Saturday and the Illinois Fighting Illini Saturday.
The past six meetings with the Hawkeyes, now ranked No. 60, have resulted in Badger victories. Wisconsin leads the all-time series 62-32, and UW assistant coach Joe Bates is looking forward to continuing that winning streak.
“It’s going to be a tough weekend, so we are going to take the momentum from [last Sunday’s match with] Penn State into the match with Iowa,” Bates said.
Last year, the Badgers were much more familiar with the Hawkeyes. With several seniors that are no longer on the team, Wisconsin was able to defeat Iowa, 5-2. Friday’s meeting with Iowa will be a new experience for close to half of Wisconsin’s team.
Sophomore Billy Bertha will be just as new to Iowa City as his freshman teammates.
“Last year, I was expecting to play and didn’t,” Bertha said. “I have played every team in the Big Ten except for Iowa, so it will be nice to play there.”
Even with the absence of Bertha’s reputed big first serve, Marek Michalicka and his former doubles partner Moritz Baumann were able to pull a win out of a close doubles match. The victory allowed the Badgers to sweep the Hawkeyes in doubles and begin the dual in the lead.
The freshmen Badgers will also be joining Bertha in his first meeting with Iowa. Bates anticipates these younger players having only positive effects on the outcome of the dual.
“They are freshmen, so they have had a quick learning curve,” Bates said. “They have really come along quickly and I think they feel like they are upperclassmen now. They are definitely ready to make their presence known against Iowa.”
Iowa, meanwhile, has very few freshmen that compete in the top spots. The Hawkeyes are primarily led by the talented junior pair of Marc Bruche and Will Vasos. The duo is coming off a big doubles weekend after winning at both Michigan and Michigan State. The No. 1 team of Michalicka and Bertha is trying to move forward after a losing weekend in doubles play.
“Last week, we were pretty confident, maybe even overconfident,” Bertha said. “This week, we are more focused and hopefully won’t lose 8-3.”
After Iowa, the Badger squad travels to Illinois to face the Fighting Illini.
Wisconsin’s history with Illinois is much different from its record with Iowa. The Badgers trail the all-time series 31-50. However, the teams’ most recent meeting during last year’s Sweet 16 round of the NCAA tournament resulted in a Badger victory, despite a very rowdy crowd. Wisconsin is anticipating a similar atmosphere Sunday.
“We hope we can keep it close,” Bates said. “It’s going to be a fiery atmosphere there, that’s what happened when we played them last year at the Sweet 16. We hope to keep the crowd under control and put ourselves in a position to win. We want to take care of that final match.”
Bertha is confident the Illini haven’t forgotten about their last meeting with the Badgers quite yet.
“They weren’t too pleased with that,” Bertha said. “I think their guys will remember that and come out with extra motivation.”
Illinois’ primary threat is top singles player, junior Dennis Nevolo. As a freshman, Nevolo was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year and has since lived up to his No. 11 national ranking. Although the Badgers fell 4-3 to the Illini last season, Michalicka defeated Nevolo in two sets. However, the other singles players were not as successful and ultimately cost Wisconsin the match. During the NCAA tournament meeting, Michalicka triumphed over Nevolo for the second time that season. He was able to clinch the match in two quick sets, 6-3, 6-1.
The Badgers are looking to the future rather than the past as a spot in the NCAA tournament is their goal.
“We have been hitting it hard, this is our last shot at the NCAA, so we want to get a win,” Bertha said.
