University of Minnesota Athletics
No. 12 Michigan and Senior Day at Baseline Sunday
4/11/2018 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
| No. 36 Gopher Men's Tennis (12-6, 6-2 Big Ten) | |
| Gophers vs. Michigan State (8-14, 1-6 Big Ten) | |
| Date/Time | Friday, April 13, 3 p.m. |
| Location | Baseline Tennis Center |
| Follow Live | Live Stream/Scoring |
| Gophers vs. No. 12 Michigan (16-4, 5-2 Big Ten) | |
| Date/Time | Sunday, April 15, 12 p.m. |
| Location | Baseline Tennis Center |
| Follow Live | Live Stream/Scoring |
| Further Reading | Game Day Program | MSU Preview | Michigan Preview |
| Social Media | @GopherMTennis | Facebook | Instagram |
ITA Division I Men's Rankings: Team | Singles | Doubles
MINNEAPOLIS - Minnesota returns to Baseline Tennis Center this weekend for the regular season home finale, hosting Michigan State and No. 12 Michigan while also honoring their pair of seniors this weekend.
Hoosier State Split
No. 36 Minnesota (12-6, 5-2 Big Ten) split a pair of match-ups in Indiana last week, falling to Indiana 4-3 on Friday evening before bouncing back with a 5-2 victory over Purdue on Sunday afternoon. The Gophers still have won three of their last five and 10 of their last 13. Senior Matic Spec has won six-straight in singles play, while Stefan Milicevic has won five-straight. Freshmen Vlad Lobak and Jackson Allen each picked up a victory for the Gophers over Purdue, including the clinching decision from Lobak.
Milwaukee Made
Coming to the Gophers from the Milwaukee suburb of Elm Grove, Wisconsin, Felix Corwin recently earned his 80th career singles victory for Minnesota, currently 82-38 overall and 76-34 in doubles competition. Since moving into the #1 singles position this season, he is 10-3 and the team has posted the same record in that stretch. He was an All-Big Ten Second Team selection in 2017. This year, he competed at the ITA Fall Nationals alongside doubles partner and fellow senior Matic Spec after winning the ITA Central Regional held at Baseline Tennis Center. He reached the finals of the Milwaukee Tennis Classic and competed at the ITA All-American.
Marino Alpeza on Corwin: "He's been giving a lot to the team on and off the court this year. He's a great leader. On the court, he's playing #1 in singles and doubles and winning a ton. He means a lot to this team, and it'll be tough when he's gone."
Jesse Sprinkel on Corwin: "Felix is really professional. He takes care of the little things. He's a leader on and off the court who gets us pumped up and inspired before the matches. That's something we're really going to miss next year."
Josip Krstanovic on Corwin: "He's a great guy on and off the court. He brings a lot of laughs to the locker room, and he's really fun to be around. I'm going to say it about both Felix and Matic, the first thing that comes to mind for me is 'role model,' showing how to act on and off the court and be a professional. They give it their all every single day in practice, and it looks like they have fine."
Auto-Matic
Matic Spec, a native of Maribor, Slovenia, also collected his 80th career win in singles play earlier this season and currently sits at 87-41 in singles and 71-51 in doubles during his Gopher career. Spec is 15-2 on the season and 11-1 at the #2 singles position. He's won six straight entering the weekend. He earned the Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Award and has been named First Team All-Big Ten the last three seasons. This year, he competed at the ITA Fall National Championships in doubles with fellow senior Felix Corwin after winning the ITA Central Regional held at Baseline Tennis Center. He also competed at the Oracle ITA Masters event and the ITA All-American Championship during tournament season. In 2016, he received the Phil Brain Memorial Award for Team MVP.
Alpeza on Spec: "Matic leads this team with his work ethic. He's always getting extra work in and give advice to younger guys. Just like Felix, he's always being a leader on and off the court."
Sprinkel on Spec: "Matic, and Felix, are probably the most professional guys we have had at Minnesota in a long time. That's why they're going to play professional tennis now. We're really going miss Matic's consistent work ethic. He shows up every day ready to play, ready to get loud, ready to puss his teammates. That's really important to us and helps us get better."
Krstanovic on Spec: "I have never seen a better work ethic on the court in college tennis than Matic's. Even though he's really on a roll right now, he never stops practicing and working on things. It's amazing to have him on the team, and it's going to be weird next year not having Felix and Matic on the team. They are a big part of the team, and they left a big mark for Minnesota."
Gophers in the Rankings
Minnesota remains the fourth-highest ranked team in the Big Ten, sliding into the No. 36 spot in this week's ITA-Division I poll. Stefan Milicevic moved up 16 spots this week, reaching the no. 80 position as the highest-ranked Gopher. Despite extending his winning streak to six-straight in singles, Matic Spec fell to the no. 99 position. Felix Corwin held steady at no. 101. With recent changes to Minnesota's doubles line-up, the Gophers no longer boast a ranked doubles team.
Returning All-Big Ten
Minnesota returns three All-Big Ten honorees from a season ago in Spec, Corwin, and Krstanovic. Spec landed on the First Team All-Big Ten with a 21-16 overall mark and 6-6 mark against conference foes. Corwin landed on the Second Team All-Big Ten with a 23-13 mark and a 7-6 conference record. Krstanovic posted a 21-9 record in his sophomore season and earned Minnesota's Big Ten Sportsmanship award.
Scouting the Spartans Website | @MSU_Tennis
Michigan State (8-14, 1-6 Big Ten) has dropped 4-of-5 results entering the weekend including matching 6-1 defeats this past weekend against Northwestern and Illinois … head coach Gene Orlando is in his 26th season leading the Spartans … MSU finished 11-18 overall last season and 0-11 in Big Ten competition … Brett Forman is currently 6-12 at the #1 singles position for the Spartans, having won his last decision … Forman and Jasper Koenen are 9-7 at the #1 doubles position … Minnesota is 48-14 all-time against Michigan State including a 6-1 victory last season in East Lansing.
Scouting the Wolverines Website | @umichtennis
No. 12 Michigan (16-4, 5-2 Big Ten) has won 4-of-5 match-ups entering the weekend and will face Wisconsin before matching up with the Gophers … head coach Adam Steinberg is in his fourth season leading the Wolverines … Michigan finished 23-7 overall and second in the Big Ten at 10-2 in league play … Alex Knight is currently 7-3 at the #1 singles spot and ranks no. 11 nationally … the Wolverines boast three ranked singles players with no. 35 Runhao Hua and no. 124 Mattias Siimar … Knight and Hua rank no. 13 nationally … Michigan leads Minnesota 50-29-1 in the all-time series, including a 5-2 defeat for the Gophers in Ann Arbor last season.
UP NEXT
First serve between the Gophers and Spartans is set for 3 p.m. at Baseline Tennis Center.
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Players Mentioned
