The No. 41 UW mens tennis teams spring break did not start the way the Badgers had hoped. Wisconsin was unable to open the week with a win, falling short, 5-2, to No. 73 SMU on Monday afternoon in Dallas, Texas.
The Mustangs (10-8, 0-1) wasted no time in putting the match away, leaving no chance for the dangerous UW (9-8, 2-3) squad to stage a comeback.
After SMU won two of three doubles matches to take a 1-0 lead in the match, the Mustangs won three-straight singles matches to notch the victory.
Federico Murgier was the first to finish, defeating UW senior Lachezar Kasarov (Burgas, Bulgaria) at No. 4 singles, 6-3, 6-1.
Adolfo Solares won in straight sets as well, downing freshman Michael Dierberger (Milwaukee, Wis.), 6-3, 6-4, at the No. 6 position.
No. 67 Alex Skrypko then clinched the match by taking the No. 1 slot over No. 98 Jeremy Sonkin (Wheaton, Ill.). Sonkin lost a hard-fought first set, 7-5, and fought back to take the second set in convincing fashion, 6-2. Sonkin, however, did not have quite enough to pull out the third and final set, losing, 6-3.
The Badgers were able to get successful efforts from Moritz Baumann (Inzlingen, Germany) and Felipe Bellido (Lima, Peru).
Baumann finished on top in a seesaw battle over Olivind Alver at No. 3 singles, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, while Bellido won a close match of his own, beating Robin Faghen, 7-6, 7-6, at No. 5 singles. Bellidos win improved his 2007 record to 13-2.
After splitting sets with David Kuczer at No. 2 singles, Nolan Polley (Lexington, Ky.) was defeated by Kuczer in the third set super tiebreaker, 10-8.
Wisconsins spring break in Texas will continue tomorrow when the team faces No. 74 TCU at 6 p.m. in Fort Worth, Texas.
