University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Open Big Ten Play in Michigan
3/25/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Coming off its biggest win of the spring season, Minnesota looks to maintain its momentum this weekend as it heads to Michigan for three matches and opens Big Ten play.
The Gophers knocked off 24th-ranked Pepperdine last week to surge 12 spots to 39th in this week's national rankings. They take on Western Michigan on Friday in the final non-conference match of the season before opening Big Ten play on Saturday at Michigan and Sunday at Michigan State.
Minnesota enters the weekend with a 6-5 overall record. Sebastian Gallego had a pair of big wins against Pepperdine, beating 40th-ranked Bassam Beidas in singles and joining Phillip Arndt to beat the nation's 25th-ranked doubles tandem. Gallego and Arndt are 8-2 at No. 1 doubles and ranked 37th this spring, while Rok Bonin and Tobias Wernet at 8-3 at No. 2 doubles. Bonin has won six of his last eight singles matches and posted the clinching win in a third-set tiebreaker against Pepperdine. Wernet is currently ranked 121st in singles with a 13-8 record.
Western Michigan is 14-5 overall with all five defeats coming against ranked opponents. The Broncos have played three Big Ten opponents this spring with a win over Purdue and losses to Iowa and Northwestern. Michael Calderone is the team's top singles player with a 22-11 overall record. Minnesota beat the Broncos 6-1 last year in Minneapolis. The only other previous meeting was a 7-0 Gophers' victory in 2004.
Michigan is ranked 28th in the country and is 5-6 overall entering a home match with 15th-ranked Stanford on Thursday. The Wolverines and Gophers are meeting for the second time this spring, having played on Jan. 30 in the consolation match of the ITA Indoor Qualifying tournament in Lexington, Ky. Michigan took 4-2 win in that match that saw two ranked Wolverines players rally from a set down for three-set victories. Jason Jung, who is ranked 42nd in this week's rankings, rallied to beat Wernet 4-6, 7-6, 7-6, while 103rd-ranked Evan King came back to beat Bonin 1-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Michigan State is 11-5 overall and takes on Iowa on Saturday prior to Sunday's encounter with Minnesota. The Spartans played Michigan in the Big Ten opener on Saturday with Michigan taking a 6-1 win in Ann Arbor. Ronnie Hulewicz plays No. 1 singles for the Spartans and leads the team in victories with a 19-9 record.
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