Season Review: 2017-18 Michigan Men's Tennis
7/10/2018 12:51:00 PM | Men's Tennis
• Record: 22-6 overall, 8-2 Big Ten Conference (third place)
• Big Ten Tournament: Semifinal
• NCAA Tournament: Sweet 16
Team Highlights
• Michigan competed in its 11th NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 match in program history, its most recent visit being in 2008.
• Michigan's 22 wins are the fourth-best total in school history, coming within one win of third place. U-M had a nine-match win streak during the season.
• The Maize and Blue returned to the NCAA Tournament for the third year in a row and advanced to the Sweet 16. The Wolverines defeated Cleveland State, 4-0, in the first round, then defeated Notre Dame, 4-0, in the second round. U-M fell to No. 2-ranked UCLA, 4-2, in the Sweet 16.
• The Wolverines sent a doubles team to the NCAA Individual Championships for the second consecutive year. Seniors Runhao Hua and Alex Knight represented the Maize and Blue on the heels of a 16-7 record as a duo, while being ranked as high as seventh in the ITA doubles rankings.
• The Wolverines also sent Hua and Knight to the NCAA Individual Singles Championships. Knight fell in the first round to Cameron Klinger from Vanderbilt, while Hua was victorious in his first two matches, defeating the No. 28- and No. 5-ranked players in the country. Hua ultimately fell in the round of 16 to No. 9-16 ranked Mazen Osama from Alabama.
Individual Highlights
• Knight finished the season ranked No. 19 and reached a career high of No. 3 after he completed the majority of the dual-match season playing at No. 1 singles, while leading the team with an impressive 28-8 record in singles play. Knight earned ITA All-America honors alongside Hua. Knight, a native of Miami Shores, Florida, compiled a 25-11 record in doubles while normally playing alongside Hua, and landed in the prestigious "25/25" club. Knight's 25 doubles victories rank fifth most all-time in program history for a single season. The Knight/Hua duo ended the season with a No. 33 national ranking after reaching a season high No. 7. Knight was a 2018 NCAA Individual Championships qualifier and a unanimous first team Big Ten All-Conference selection. He was also named ITA Most Improved Senior and Most Improved Midwest Senior. Knight earned Big Ten Athlete of the Week (Jan. 30) and runner-up for the 2017 singles and doubles title at the ITA Midwest Regional Championships alongside Hua (Oct. 23).
• Hua finished the season ranked No. 32 individually and No. 33 in doubles alongside Knight. He was a 2018 NCAA Individual Championships qualifier in singles and doubles, and reached the round of 16 in singles play. Hua was named to the Big Ten All-Conference first team and won the 2017 singles title at the ITA Midwest Regional Championships (Oct. 23). He also earned ITA All-American honors after compiling a 25-8 singles record and a 23-11 doubles record, which placed Hua in the "20/20" club.
• Mattias Siimar had an impressive first season at Michigan. With a singles record of 25-11, he earned sole possession of the sixth most singles wins all-time by a freshman. With a doubles record of 19-8, he tied teammate Connor Johnston's 2017 record for ninth most doubles wins by a freshman. Siimar is the fourth player all-time to be top 10 on both lists and the first player since Alex Petrone in 2012. Siimar ended the year ranked No. 15 in the region.
• Senior Davis Crocker and freshman Harrison Brown teamed up to win the Big Ten Doubles Indoor Championship on Oct. 29.
Honors and Awards
Alex
Knight
Runhao
Hua
Davis
Crocker
Myles
Chalet
Nick
Beaty
ITA
All-American: Alex Knight, Runhao Hua
ITA Most Improved Senior (Midwest): Alex Knight
ITA Most Improved Senior (National): Alex Knight
Big Ten Conference
All-Big Ten (First Team):Â Runhao Hua, Alex Knight
Sportsmanship Award: Runhao Hua
Academic All-Big Ten
Nick Beaty, So., LSA Undeclared
Davis Crocker, Sr., Sport Management
Alex Knight, Sr., Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Myles Schalet, Jr., Sport Management
Gabe Tishman, Jr., Environment
U-M
Hall of Honor: MaliVal Washington
Players Mentioned
