University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Big Ten Indoor Championships
Gopher Freshmen Reach Big Ten Semifinals
11/2/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Tournament Central | Singles Draws
MINNEAPOLIS - Minnesota men's tennis freshmen Felix Corwin and Matic Spec each won two matches at the Big Ten Indoor Championships at the Baseline Tennis Center Sunday to secure semifinal berth. Both players will vie to become the Gophers' first champion of the event since 2003 when Minnesota senior Chris Wettengel made it through the tournament without dropping a set.
Play Monday begins at 9 a.m. CT. No. 2 seeded Corwin will face Iowa's Josh Silverstein, while third-seeded Spec will clash with top-seeded and 64th-ranked Dusty Boyer of Nebraska.
To reach the semifinal, Corwin dispatched Wisconsin's Alex Kokorev in the round of 16 and Iowa's Dominic Patrick in the quarterfinal by matching 6-4, 6-4 scores. Spec won both of his matches in three sets, holding on to defeat the Hawkeyes' Eleftherios Theodorou, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4, before moving past teammate Mathieu Froment, 7-5, 2-6, 6-1.
Froment defeated Riley Reist of Ohio State, 6-2, 6-4, to set up the quarterfinal contest between two Gophers.
In other singles action for Minnesota, No. 7 seed Ruben Weber dropped a three-set match against Silverstein in the round of 16 and Eric Frueh and Jeremy Lynn both went 1-1 in consolation play. Frueh's win came in a close super tiebreaker against Nebraska's Marc Herrmann, while Lynn's win came against the Cornhuskers' Chris Schindler.
Excluding the match between Spec and Froment, the Gophers went 6-3 Sunday. As a team, the Gophers now have a 49-29 record in fall singles play. They finished 17-11 in doubles after the tournament's doubles draws wrapped up Friday.
Following Big Ten Indoor Championships play, No. 22-ranked senior Leandro Toledo will conclude the fall season for Minnesota Nov. 7-10 at the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships in Flushing, N.Y.
Singles - Round of 16
Matic Spec (MINN) def. Eleftherios Theodorou (IOWA) 6-1, 3-6, 6-4
Mathieu Froment (MINN) def. Riley Reist (OSU) 6-2, 6-4
Josh Silverstein (IOWA) def. Ruben Weber (MINN) 3-6, 7-5, 6-2
Felix Corwin (MINN) def. Alexander Kokorev (UW) 6-4, 6-4
Singles - Quarterfinals
Matic Spec (MINN) def. Mathieu Froment (MINN) 7-5, 2-6, 6-1
Felix Corwin (MINN) def. Dominic Patrick (IOWA) 6-4, 6-4
Consolation Matches
Jeremy Lynn (MINN) def. Chris Schindler (NEB) 7-6 (5), 6-2
Eric Frueh (MINN) def. Marc Herrmann (NEB) 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (9)
Matt Mendez (OSU) def. Jeremy Lynn (MINN) 6-1, 6-3
Lamar Remy (UW) def. Eric Frueh (MINN) 6-2, 6-3
