University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Oust UW, Advance in Big Ten Tournament
4/30/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Minnesota avenged its 2010 Big Ten Tournament loss by eliminating the sixth-seeded host and 71st-ranked Wisconsin from this year's conference tournament with a 4-0 win at the Cole Hall Tennis Courts in Madison, Wis. on Friday. The victory marked the No. 19 Gophers' first in Big Ten postseason play since 2008 and their second shutout of the season. They beat Denver 7-0 at home on March 26.
UM will now face second-seeded Indiana at 2 p.m. on Saturday for a spot in the conference final against either No. 4 seed Illinois or No. 1 seed Ohio State on Sunday. The Big Ten Network will televise Sunday's championship on tape delay on Saturday, May 7, at 5 p.m.
The Gophers had a bye through first-round play on Thursday while Wisconsin was busy taking down last-place Penn State to reach the quarterfinal.
In contradictory fashion to the way it began a 5-2 win against the Badgers on Feb. 13, Minnesota started Friday's match by winning the doubles competition. Tobias Wernet and Juan Pablo Ramirez gave UM the early edge by earning their fifth win as a doubles pair, an 8-2 drubbing of UW's Petr Satral and Ricardo Martin.
After Wisconsin leveled the competition with a win at No. 1, Rok Bonin and Julian Dehn sealed the first point of the match with an 8-5 win at the No. 2 spot. The Gophers duo is now 9-1 on the spring and 15-1 overall in 2010-11. Individually, Bonin is 11-0 in Big Ten doubles matches.
Brendan Ruddock cushioned the Gophers' lead with a straight defeat of Rodney Carey and Dehn put UM one point away from a semifinal birth with a 6-2, 6-4 win against Alex Robles. Ruddock and Dehn beat their opponents for the second time this spring.
Bonin, who clinched big wins against Illinois and Miami earlier in the season, finished off the Badgers at the second position with a 6-0, 6-2 triumph over Billy Bertha. No. 66-ranked Wernet and Sebastian Gallego each won the first set of their matches, but the contests were cut short because Minnesota had sealed the victory with Bonin's win. Phillip Arndt lost the first set of his singles match at No. 4.
Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals
No. 19 Minnesota 4, No. 71 Wisconsin 0
April 29, 2011
Cole Hall Tennis Courts • Madison, Wis.
Singles Competition
1. No. 66 Tobias Wernet (MINN) vs. No. 57 Marek Michalicka (WIS) 7-5, 3-0, unfinished
2. Rok Bonin (MINN) def. Billy Bertha (WIS) 6-0, 6-2
3. Sebastian Gallego (MINN) vs. Petr Satral (WIS) 6-2, 3-2, unfinished
4. Phillip Arndt (MINN) vs. Fredrik Ask (WIS) 3-6, 2-5, unfinished
5. Brendan Ruddock (MINN) def. Rodney Carey (WIS) 6-3, 6-3
6. Julian Dehn (MINN) def. Alex Robles (WIS) 6-2, 6-4
Doubles Competition
1. No. 65 Billy Bertha/Marek Michalicka (WIS) def. No. 67 Phillip Arndt/Sebastian Gallego (MINN) 8-4
2. Rok Bonin/Julian Dehn (MINN) def. Rodney Carey/Fredrik Ask (WIS) 8-5
3. Tobias Wernet/Juan Pablo Ramirez (MINN) def. Petr Satral/Ricardo Martin (WIS) 8-2
Match Notes
-Wisconsin 12-12, 5-5; National ranking No. 71
-Minnesota 17-4, 8-2; National ranking No. 19
-Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (5,6,2)
-Nos. 3, 1, and 4 in singles were abandoned due to match decision
-No. 3 seed Minnesota advances past No. 6 seed Wisconsin to face No. 2 seed Indiana on Saturday
Players Mentioned
