University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Nebraska
Gophers Topple Huskers 6-1
3/25/2018 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Written by Athletic Communications Student Intern Tommy Sletten
MINNEAPOLIS -- The Gopher Men's Tennis team defeated Nebraska 6-1 to improve to 3-0 in Big Ten play this season. Josip Krstanovic won the clinching point for the second match in a row with a 6-0, 6-4 win in the No. 6 singles spot.
"He does everything right for us," head coach Geoff Young said of Krstanovic's play. "He's very professional, he works hard every day in practice, and he's just always trying to get better. To him, it's not about winning, necessarily, it's just about getting better and better."
Krstanovic is now 9-3 on the season and is on a four match winning streak. He and doubles partner Justyn Levin also won No. 2 doubles on the day, winning 6-4.
"I am always clicking with Justyn," Krstanovic said of his doubles partner. "We are a great compliment to each other on the court. I was really working on my returns, which really paid off this weekend. Justyn and I were laughing because he couldn't believe that I was returning that well. I'm the guy who's going to bring pace, and he's the guy who's going to hit the ball at the net."
Led by Krstanovic and Levin, Minnesota (10-4, 3-0 Big Ten) won the doubles point 2-1 with Stefan Milicevic and Marino Alpeza winning No. 3 doubles 7-5.
The Gophers got off to a hot start in singles, with Matic Spec winning No. 2 singles 6-3, 6-0 and Milicevic winning No. 3 singles 6-1, 6-4. Following Krstanovic's clinching win, Felix Corwin, Jackson Allen, and Vlad Lobak all took their matches to a final third set 10-point tiebreak.
While Lobak eventually fell in No. 5 singles, Allen won No. 4 singles 6-7, 6-1, 10-3, and Corwin won No. 1 singles 6-7, 6-4, 10-6.
"I thought Felix did a great job today," Young said. "He had a very tough match and I thought his opponent played very smart against him."
Lobak played No. 5 singles for the first time of his young career. While he couldn't pull off the win, the Freshman battled to a third set in his match.
"Vlad, in practice, has been playing very well, and we just wanted to give him a chance to play," Young said. "He's capable of playing a lot better than that, but he hasn't been thrown into the fire very often so it's tough to do it right away."
Minnesota will face Ohio State on Friday and Penn State on Sunday, both at home.
"It will be a lot of fun to play Ohio State," Krstanovic said. "We should just go out and battle our hearts out."
Singles
1. Felix Corwin (MINN) def.Toby Boyer (NEB) 6-7, 6-4, 10-6
2. Matic Spec (MINN) def. Linus Erhart (NEB) 6-3, 6-0
3. Stefan Milicevic (MINN) def. Isaac Nortey (NEB) 6-1, 6-4
4. Jackson Allen (MINN) def. Micah Klousia (NEB) 6-7, 6-1, 10-3
5. WIlliam Gratton-Smith (NEB) def. Vlad Lobak (MINN) 6-4, 1-6, 10-7
6. Josip Krstanovic (MINN) def. Chris Dean (NEB) 6-0, 6-4
Doubles
1. T. Boyer/L. Erhart (NEB) def. Matic Spec / Felix Corwin (MINN) 6-2
2. Josip Krstanovic / Justyn Levin (MINN) def. M. Klousia/W. Grattan-Smith (NEB) 6-4
3. Stefan Milicevic / Marino Alpeza (MINN) def. I. Nortey/C. Dean (NEB) 7-5
Order of Finish
Doubles (1,2,3) ... Singles (2,3,6,5,4,1)
UP NEXT
Opening serve between the Buckeyes and Gophers is set for 6 p.m. on Friday at Baseline Tennis Center.
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Players Mentioned
