Season Review: 2016-17 Michigan Men's Tennis
8/4/2017 10:08:00 AM | Men's Tennis
• Record: 23-7 overall, 10-2 Big Ten Conference (2nd place)
• Big Ten Tournament: Final
• NCAA Tournament: Second round
The University of Michigan men's tennis team continued its success from the 2015-16 season, finishing the 2016-17 campaign with 23 wins and advancing to the Big Ten Tournament Championship for only the second time in school history. In their second trip to the NCAA Tournament in as many years, the Wolverines knocked off Valparaiso in the first round before falling in a 4-1 match to No. 16 Stanford. Michigan, which began the season ranked No. 21, finished at No. 17 in the final ITA rankings.
Team Highlights
• Michigan competed in its second Big Ten Tournament championship match in program history, the first being in 2013.
• Michigan's 23 wins are the third-best total in school history and the most since winning 26 matches in 1988. U-M had four five-match winning streaks during the season.
• The Maize and Blue returned to the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row and advanced to the second round. The Wolverines defeated Valparaiso, 4-0, in the first round. U-M fell to No. 16-ranked Stanford, 4-1, in the second round despite an impressive 6-4, 6-2 victory by junior Carter Lin, which extended his singles play win streak to eight matches.
• The Wolverines sent a doubles team to the NCAA Individual Championships for the first time since Jason Jung and Evan King in 2011. Senior Jathan Malik and freshman Connor Johnston represented the Maize and Blue and battled to a second-set win to force a third 10-point breaker set, before falling 10-8.
• The Wolverines began the season ranked No. 21 nationally and finished at the No. 17 mark, a team best since 2008 when the Wolverines were ranked a program-high No. 16. The Maize and Blue reached as high as No. 9 during the weeks of Feb. 21 and Feb. 28. U-M finished the season ranked No. 2 regionally, behind Ohio State.
Individual Highlights
• Junior Alex Knight finished the season ranked No. 89 after he completed the majority of the dual-match season playing at No. 1 and No. 2. Knight led the team with an impressive 25-10 record in singles play. Knight earned All-Big Ten first team honors along with teammate Malik. Knight earned a 21-6 record in doubles and often paired with classmate Runhao Hua, going 16-4. The duo ended the season with a No. 69 national rank. Knight is the first Wolverine since Evan King and Alex Petrone in 2012 to garner a 20-win season in both singles and doubles.
• Malik finished his final season with an 18-11 singles record, going 11-9 in dual matches while playing primarily at No. 1 spot. The senior finished the season ranked No. 69 nationally. In doubles, Malik finished with a 23-14 overall record and a No. 31 rank with teammate Kevin Wong and No. 36 rank with teammate Johnston. The senior combined with Wong to win the ITA Midwest Regional Doubles Championship (Oct. 21-24). Malik was also named an MVP at the Bobby Bayliss Invitational (Oct. 7-9).
• Lin had another impressive season finishing 21-10 in singles play. Lin held a team-leading eight match win streak en route to the team's second NCAA Tournament appearance in a row. He clinched team victories on five different occasions.
• Johnston concluded his rookie season with a 10-2 record in singles play, going 3-1 in dual matches. Johnston compiled a doubles record of 19-8, primarily playing at No. 1 alongside Malik (11-6). The duo ended the season ranked No. 36 nationally and No. 5 regionally.
Honors and Awards
Jathan
Malik
Alex
Knight
Connor
Johnston
Carter
Lin
Runhao
Hua
Big Ten Conference
All-Big Ten (first team): Jathan Malik, Alex Knight
Sportsmanship Award: Carter Lin
Academic All-Big Ten
Davis Crocker, Jr., Sport Management
Tyler Gardiner, Sr., Business Administration
Alex Knight, Jr., Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
Jathan Malik, Sr., Organizational Studies
Myles Schalet, So., Sport Management
Gabe Tishman, So., Environment
Players Mentioned
