University of Minnesota Athletics
Gallego Finishes Runner-up at Big Ten Singles
11/3/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Minnesota sophomore Sebastian Gallego finished runner-up at the Big Ten men’s tennis singles championship on Monday in Madison, Wis.
Gallego lost to Iowa’s Christian Bierich 6-3, 6-4 in the championship match after defeating teammate and doubles partner Dino Bilankov 6-1, 6-4 in a semifinal contest earlier in the day. Gallego, a Medellin, Colombia native, had won all five of his matches in straight sets to reach the title match. Gallego’s championship match will be shown tape-delayed on Sun., Nov. 9 at 4 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.
Gallego had lost his only other previous encounter to Bierich, a senior from Sweden, by nearly an identical score last spring with a 6-4, 6-3 loss in a team dual. Bierich was seeded fourth in the tournament and Gallego was seeded fifth.
Gophers’ freshman Julian Dehn reached the consolation title match, but lost to Michigan’s George Navas 6-2, 6-3. Dehn had posted four consecutive straight-set wins after losing his first-round match in the main draw.
Monday’s matches marked Minnesota’s final fall competition of the 2008-09 season. The Gophers will open their dual match season on Jan. 30 by hosting Marquette.
