Playing .500 tennis is a disappointment for any club with postseason ambitions. But that is exactly what Northwestern has done over the last three weekends. The Wildcats need to get off to a strong start against Purdue (7-11, 2-4 Big Ten) on Saturday, in anticipation of Sunday’s matchup with No. 5 Illinois.
“We have a tough match against Purdue,” coach Paul Torricelli said. “Our chances of making it to the NCAAs are down to upsetting Illinois.”
Defeating the Illini will not be easy. The Illini (15-5, 5-1) have won their last three matches and their only conference lost was to Big Ten-leading Ohio State. The defending Big Ten champion Illini feature a roster of elite players, led by reigning Big Ten player of the year Ryler Deheart.
“I will definitely try to move Deheart on the court to dictate the match,” junior Christian Tempke said. “I hope I can minimize my unforced errors and make him do a lot.”
But Tempke and the Cats (10-8, 4-3) are living by Torricelli’s mantra of “the only important match is the next match.” First, they have to beat Purdue.
Although the Boilermakers sit below the Cats in the conference standings, they still have enough talent to give the Cats trouble. Purdue won its last match against Michigan and is looking for its first road win of the season.
Regardless of the opponent, the Cats’ players are looking to further their recent success.
Freshman Alexey Evstratenkov has been a force at No. 6 singles and is 4-2 since he replaced the injured Matt Christian in the singles lineup.
“I’d like to finish the season 5-0,” Evstratenkov, who is currently on a two-match winning streak, said. “I’ve been playing much better now than I did in the fall.”
To give the Cats a weekend sweep, NU would like to continue the dominance they showed in doubles last weekend.
“We have been playing good doubles recently,” Torricelli said. “Purdue has strong doubles, so if we don’t take care of that, it will become a slugfest.”
This weekend’s matches will add strain to the already beleaguered NU lineup. Each player has been nursing some sort of minor injury for the last few weeks and the team is experiencing end-of-season fatigue.
“It’s a long season and we’ve played a lot of competitive tennis,” Torricelli said. “But it’s good to be home and at this point in the season, I don’t think there is a collegiate team that will tell you they are fresh.”
Reach Brian Regan at [email protected].
