University of Minnesota Athletics
Men's Tennis Hosts Marquette To Begin Season
1/19/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
The No. 33-ranked Minnesota men's tennis team begins its season against Marquette at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 22, at Baseline Tennis Center. The competition, which is free and open to the public, is the first match of the year for Marquette as well.
The Golden Gophers own a 3-0 all-time record against the Golden Eagles. Saturday's dual match will be the third time in program history that Minnesota will open the season against Marquette. The Gophers topped the Eagles 6-1 to begin the 2000 season and prevailed 7-0 on Jan. 30, 2009, which is also the last time the two programs faced one another.
Minnesota enters the season after a strong fall tournament schedule. Sophomore Rok Bonin, who was 11-2 in fall play, won the Denver Pioneer Invitational. He then teamed up with junior Julian Dehn to win the doubles championship at the Metlife Lakewood Ranch Intercollegiate Clay Court Classic in Tampa, Fla.
Dehn, who advanced to the semifinals of the 64-player Big Ten Indoor Championship, went 10-5 in the fall. Junior Phillip Arndt joined Bonin and Dehn in winning 10 matches in the fall, as he posted a 10-3 record in singles competition.
Also returning for the veteran Gophers are seniors Sebastian Gallego and Tobias Wernet. Gallego was named to the All-Big Ten Team and was Minnesota's Most Valuable Player after going 20-11 in singles last season. Wernet was 20-14 in singles last year.
Sophomore Brendan Ruddock, who earned the team's Unsung Hero, Most Improved Player and Team Spirit honors last year, was 6-4 in the fall after posting a 15-13 record as a freshman.
Minnesota was 14-11 overall last season (6-4 in the Big Ten) and reached the second round of the NCAA tournament. The Gophers head to Los Angeles next week for a match against No. 6 UCLA at 1 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 28. They will then play either No. 27 Florida State or No. 28 Fresno State at either 3 p.m. or 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 29.
Players Mentioned
