Tennis season is in full swing, and this weekend both the Wisconsin men’s and women’s teams will be facing strong, ranked competition.
After finishing seventh in the Big Ten in 2009, both the UW men’s and women’s teams have been playing matches every week leading up to their Big Ten season openers in mid-March.
Their hope is to improve upon last season, and they are satisfied so far with their pre-season play.
Wisconsin women’s head coach Brian Fleishman brought on tennis professional Audra Cohen as an assistant coach over the off-season. Cohen, the 2007 ITA National Player of the Year, played at both Northwestern and Miami. A two-time ACC Player of the Year and five-time All-American, Cohen joined the UW coaching staff in December.
So far, her impact has been a positive one for the Badgers.
“She’s a great role model for the girls,” Fleishman said. “She’s so far raised our level up just by being here.”
Though the Badgers’ lineup is not set yet, Fleishman believes senior co-captain Katya Mirnova will be playing No. 1 singles. Wisconsin’s other captain is junior Jessica Seyferth.
“The biggest challenge is going to be able to find a lineup that we’re going to be able to stick with,” Fleishman said. “We have a lot of talented players and a lot of equal ability. I think everybody is striving for that No. 1 position, so I think that’s a good problem to have.”
After starting 2-4, the Badgers will host the 2010 ITA National Women’s Team Indoor Championship this weekend at Nielsen Tennis Stadium.
Matches begin Friday at 9 a.m. as 16 teams from across the country will be competing, including the top 12 ITA-ranked teams..
“We’ll have three quality matches no matter what. We’ll play three top-10 teams right in a row,” Fleishman said. “A good variety of competition, and it’s at our home place so I think it would be a great time to come out and see some tennis.”
The UW women will face No. 1 Duke at 3:30 p.m., Friday.
On the men’s side, Wisconsin is sitting on a 6-1 record after defeating Southern Methodist University and Illinois-Chicago at home Saturday. The Badgers moved up seven spots in the ITA rankings this week to No. 25.
UW will not, however, be competing in the ITA National Indoor Team Championship on the men’s side. Instead, the Badgers will take on Nebraska at 4 p.m., Thursday at Nielsen Tennis Stadium.
“I think we’re definitely ahead of where we were last year, and we have a lot of young guys playing, so I think we’re only going to get better from here,” assistant coach Evan Austin said. “Looking at our freshman, (Billy) Bertha and (Chris) Freeman, (we are) looking for those guys to have some big contributions in the next couple months.”
The team also has two players ranked in the ITA top 20 in men’s national singles. Senior Moritz Baumann is currently sitting at No. 6, and junior Marek Michalicka is at No. 20. As a pair, the international duo is ranked No. 3 in doubles.
While they remain focused on this weekend’s match, the men’s team cannot help but peek ahead at a match with Big Ten rival Ohio State, which ranks No. 3 nationally.
“Of course I want to finish No. 1, as a team, but it’s going to be hard work,” Michalicka said. “It’s going to be tough because Ohio State and Illinois are pretty good teams. But we can do it, we can beat both teams right now.”
“If there was one match I think we’re definitely looking forward to, it is our match with Ohio State at the end of the conference season,” Austin added. “I think that’s one we’re looking at and hopefully there will be a lot on the line when that match rolls around.”
Conference play begins March 21 at home against No. 12 Illinois. UW will play six Big Ten matches at home this season, including the third-ranked Buckeyes on April 25.
“We’re just trying to take one match at a time,” Austin said. “Hopefully when things fall at the end we’ll be in position to have a shot at the title.”
