It was an eventful weekend for Northwestern as the men’s tennis team powered through an intense schedule with three matches against Clemson, Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis, and No. 21 Alabama in just two days.
In their first matchup of the weekend, the Wildcats hosted the Crimson Tide for a Friday night non-conference contest at the Combe Tennis Center. However, NU struggled to find its rhythm during the early part of their match against Alabama.
In the doubles portion of the match, the ’Cats fell behind early. The Crimson Tide’s Matic Dimic and Roan Jones easily defeated sophomore Chad Miller and senior Saiprakash Goli 6-1 on Court 3.
NU tied the match up as freshman Greyson Casey and senior Presley Thieneman defeated Andrii Zimnokh and Filip Planinsek 6-2 on Court 2. However, that momentum was quickly halted as Alabama’s Zach Foster and Enzo Aguiard earned a decisive 6-2 victory over junior Felix Nordby and senior Gleb Blekher to give Alabama the doubles point and an early 1-0 lead in the match.
Once the match switched over to singles, the ’Cats continued their trend of starting slow –– they dropped their first three matches.
The Crimson Tide secured match point, giving them a 4-3 win, as Planinsek defeated Bleker in two sets with scores of 6-1 in the first and 7-6 in the second.
In their second match of the weekend, the hosts were able to completely turn things around as they dominated in all aspects against Clemson Sunday afternoon at the Combe Tennis Center.
Unlike their first match, NU got off to a blazing hot start in the doubles portion as Casey and Thieneman defeated Stewart Aronson and Marko Mesarovic 7-5 on Court 2. Then, Blekher and Nordby clinched the doubles point as they narrowly beat Noa Vukadin and Max Smith 7-6 on Court 1.
The ’Cats continued their impressive outing against Clemson as they won the first three singles matches against the Tigers to grab the match point. NU defeated the Tigers 6-1, giving them their fourth win of the young season.
In their third and final weekend match, the ’Cats once again played host as they took on IUPUI in a nightcap matchup.
The ’Cats had a nearly identical performance in the doubles portion of the match against IUPUI as against Clemson, winning the first two matches to give them the doubles point.
NU nabbed the clinching point as Blekher and Nordby took a commanding 6-1 victory over Kamil Kozerski and Emil Jankowski.
Once the match switched to singles, the hosts’ domination persisted. The ’Cats only needed three matches to clinch the winning point, as Norby beat Jankowski in two sets with scores of 6-4 and 6-2, securing the match for NU.
The ’Cats will look to notch their third consecutive victory Friday night when they travel to Murfreesboro, TN to take on the Blue Raiders.
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Twitter: @JacobKHare
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