With the spring season continuing to heat up, the University of Wisconsin men’s and women’s tennis teams competed in simultaneous matches Feb. 1 at Nielsen Tennis Stadium, capping a weekend full of action in Madison.
Sunday’s matches in front of a passionate Badger crowd on Family Fun Day capped a weekend that featured six matches over three days.
The men’s team was the first to the courts on Friday night against Western Michigan. They entered the match 2-1 on the season, with their lone loss coming to then No. 19 Baylor, but was coming off a 7-0 victory over Chicago State Jan. 23.
Setting the tone for a successful weekend, the Badgers dominated the Broncos with a 2-1 record in doubles and a 5-1 record in singles play to earn a 6-1 team victory.
After the strong start to the weekend, it only got better for the men’s team, who did not surrender another point following Friday’s match.
On Saturday, it was the women’s team which dominated on their home courts, posting sweeps in two nonconference matches against Harvard and Milwaukee to bounce back from a defeat to USC Jan. 23.
Wisconsin opened the day against Harvard, went 2-1 in doubles to claim the point, then won the No. 1, 3 and 4 singles matches — each in straight sets — to cap the 4-0 victory.
The second match against Milwaukee was even more dominant. The No. 2 and 3 doubles teams claimed the point before the third match finished, and the back end of the singles lineup followed, with the No. 6, 5 and 4 players each winning in straight sets to secure another 4-0 victory.
Sunday gave Badger fans a chance to see both the men’s and women’s teams in action all in one sitting. The men took on Omaha while the women battled No. 18 Texas, and later the men played against in-state rival Marquette, putting an exclamation point on the weekend.
On the women’s side, the Badgers were unable to find success in doubles and, despite competitive singles matches across the board, fell 2-5.
Ekaterina Ivanova and Tianna Rangan each won their singles matches to prevent Wisconsin from going empty handed, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a strong effort from the Longhorns.
While the women’s team didn’t get the result they wanted Sunday, the men’s team made up for it, completely dominating both of their opponents.
In the first match against Omaha, the Badgers earned the doubles point and completed a 4-0 sweep thanks to singles wins from Ferdinand Kloesters, Sachiv Kumar and Oliver Olsson.
In an even more impressive effort to end the day against Marquette, the No. 2 and 3 doubles teams won 6-0, 6-1 respectively, Kloesters and Kumar each won again in singles, along with Tomas Zlatohlavek, which helped Wisconsin earn their second 4-0 victory of the day.
Both teams will now prepare for road trips, with the men being back in action this week and the women enjoying a week off. The men will play against Notre Dame on the road Feb. 6, and the women will be back in action Feb. 13 to face Arkansas and Kansas.
