The University of Wisconsin men’s tennis team (10-11, 4-7 Big Ten) split their weekend matches with the Northwestern Wildcats (14-13, 5-6) and Illinois Fighting Illini (16-7, 10-1).
The Badgers started the weekend with a victory over Northwestern Friday afternoon, winning 5–2 behind another outstanding performance from freshman Jared Pratt. Pratt defeated freshman Simen Bratholm in straight sets, continuing his dominance in Big Ten play.
Senior Osgar O’Hoisin, sophomore Jesper Freimuth and freshman Lenard Soha earned the other singles points for the Badgers, while the duos of O’Hoisin/Pratt and Freimuth/Soha won their matches to earn the doubles point.
Men’s tennis: Wisconsin closes out regular season with home matchups against Northwestern, Illinois
“It was a great team win,” Head Coach Danny Westerman said. “It all started with doubles. Everyone wants to play well at the end of the season and I really feel like we’re playing our best tennis.”
After, Westerman was emotional talking about Wisconsin’s seniors, who would play their final home match Sunday afternoon.
“It was great that Osgar could get that win at the No. 1 spot,” Westerman said. “He’s had match point after match point. He’s been leading us really well. [Alan] Sweet on the sideline too — one of the best Badgers you can find. He’s tremendous. These guys bring it out of me and lift me up.”
After a nice win to open the weekend, Wisconsin put up a strong fight against No. 15 Illinois Sunday afternoon. Seniors O’Hoisin and Sweet were honored before the match for their service to the team.
Men’s tennis: Badgers split weekend matchups against Indiana, Purdue
O’Hoisin lost his final regular season singles matchup 6–3, 6–0 against the No. 8 player in the country, junior Aleks Kovacevic.
Pratt extended his win streak to eight straight singles matches, narrowly defeating freshman Siphosothando Montsi 6–2, 3–6, 7–5.
Soha and sophomore Robert Krill also added singles wins to make things interesting, but the Badgers dropped both of their doubles matches.
Despite losing the doubles point, the Badgers finished the season with a 15-6 doubles record, an impressive feat considering their 10-11 overall record.
Wisconsin finishes the season No. 9 in the Big Ten, earning themselves a match-up against No. 8 Minnesota in the first round of the Big Ten Tennis Tournament Thursday.
The Badgers will be looking for a victory after losing 4–3 to the Golden Gophers earlier this season. The match will begin at 9 a.m. in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
