University of Minnesota Athletics
Home Season Concludes With Weekend Matches
4/14/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
The home season comes to an end for the Minnesota men's tennis team as the Gophers host Northwestern and Wisconsin at the Baseline Tennis Center.
The Gophers are coming off a thrilling 4-3 win over Indiana on Sunday that pushed them into a tie with the Hoosiers for fifth place in the Big Ten standings at 3-3 in league play. Minnesota can catch fourth place Wisconsin with a pair of wins this weekend as the Badgers enter the weekend at 4-2 in the Big Ten.
Minnesota is ranked 37th in the country and hosts 53rd-ranked Northwestern on Friday at 3 p.m. before taking on the 32nd-ranked Badgers on Sunday at noon. The Gophers are 10-8 overall with all eight losses coming to teams currently ranked in the top 25.
Minnesota's win over Indiana on Sunday marked the second time this season the Gophers have won a third-set tiebreaker in the clinching match. Brendan Ruddock actually won tiebreakers in the second and third sets against Indiana and rallied from a 4-1 third-set deficit. Rok Bonin also had a third-set tiebreaker win in the Gophers' 4-3 win over Pepperdine, which is ranked 22nd in this week's rankings. The win over Indiana was also the first time the Gophers have won when losing the doubles point as they are now 1-7 for the season.
Ruddock is 12-10 for the season and had been 1-4 in tiebreakers before his two wins Sunday. Six of his last eight matches have gone to three sets. Sebastian Gallego is ranked 80th in the country this week and owns a 15-10 overall record. Tobias Wernet is ranked 102nd and has a 16-12 record. Gallego and Arndt are ranked 47th in doubles, though they have lost their last three matches.
Northwestern is led by Joshua Graves, who is ranked 82nd in the country. The Wildcats are 9-10 overall and 1-5 in the Big Ten. Northwestern beat the Gophers 4-3 last season to snap a three-match losing streak in the series. Minnesota leads the all-time series 45-44-1.
Wisconsin features one of the best tandems in the Big Ten as Moritz Baumann is ranked 17th in the country and Marek Michalicka is ranked 22nd. The duo also form the nation's 12th-ranked doubles team. The Badgers enter the weekend 15-6 overall. Minnesota beat Wisconsin 4-3 last year as Wernet rallied from a break down in the third set to beat Michalicka in the deciding match. The Gophers lead the all-time series 55-45.
Players Mentioned
