The No. 64 University of Wisconsin mens tennis team opened play at the 2008 Blue Gray Classic with a 4-3 loss to No. 25 Texas Tech. The Red Raiders claimed the doubles point as well as three of the six singles matches. With the loss Wisconsin falls to 7-6 on the year, while Texas Tech improves to 13-1.
The Red Raiders took a 1-0 lead after winning the doubles point. They got wins at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles, while No. 1 doubles did not finish due to the point already being decided.
At No. 2 doubles, the 42nd-ranked team of Michael Breler and Sinisa Markovic defeated the 37th-ranked Badger duo of senior Jeremy Sonkin (Wheaton, Ill.) and sophomore Luke Rassow-Kantor (Westport, Conn.) 8-3, while Ilya Babinciuc and Lenoir Ramos knocked off senior Felipe Bellido (Lima, Peru) and sophomore Marek Michalicka (Ricany, Czech Republic) 8-4 at the No. 3 spot.
Texas Tech made it 2-0 after winning the match at No. 5 singles. Christian Rojmar bested Bellido in straight sets 6-3, 6-2. With the loss Bellido falls to 7-2 on the year and 4-2 at the No. 5 spot.
The lead was pushed to 3-0 when Breler topped sophomore Michael Dierberger (Milwaukee, Wis.) at the No. 6 position. Breler won in straight sets 6-4, 6-0. Dierberger is now 7-3 on the season and 3-2 at the No. 6 spot.
The Badgers trimmed the lead to 3-2 though with wins at No. 2 and No. 3.
Michalicka won at No. 2 singles over Markovic 7-5, 7-6 to improve to 12-0 on the year, while senior Nolan Polley (Lexington, Ky.) was victorious at No. 3 with a win over Ramos. Polley won in straight sets 6-2, 7-6. He is now 7-3 for the year and 2-0 at the No. 3 position.
Wisconsin tied things up at 3-3 with a big win at No. 1 singles. 50th-ranked Moritz Baumann defeated No. 35 Bojan Szumanski in a three sets 6-3, 6-7, 6-1 to even things up. Baumann is now 3-5 on the year with all eight matches coming at the No. 1 spot.
The Red Raiders prevailed in the end though with a win at No. 4 singles. Babinciuc defeated Sonkin 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 to give Texas Tech the win. Sonkin falls to 3-8 on the season and 1-3 at the No. 4 spot.
The Badgers return to action tomorrow morning when they face No. 48 Fresno State which lost to VCU 4-1. Match time is set for 8:30 a.m. Fans can follow live stats by clicking here and can check back to UWBadgers.com for full results.
