Wolverines Set to Host Two at VTC This Weekend

» U-M sits at No. 20 in the latest ITA rankings while coming in at No. 18 in the USTA top-25 poll. » Mattias Siimar checks in at No. 55 in this week's ITA singles rankings and Andrew Fenty earned his first career ranking (No. 98)
» Fenty is riding a team-high 12-match win streak while having a team-leading 20 singles wins.

THIS WEEKEND
Friday, April 5 -- vs. Northwestern (Varsity Tennis Center), 3 p.m.
Live Scoring/Video
Sunday, April 7 -- vs. No. 15 Illinois (Varsity Tennis Center), noon
Live Scoring/Video

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The No. 20-ranked University of Michigan men's tennis team (12-5, 3-2 Big Ten) returns home this weekend to host two Big Ten matches. The Wolverines will take on Northwestern on Friday (April 5) at 3 p.m., and No. 14-ranked Illinois at noon on Sunday (April 7) at the Varsity Tennis Center.

• Friday's match will be the 101st meeting between U-M and Northwestern, with the Maize and Blue holding a 71-28-1 advantage in the all-time series against the Wildcats. Michigan last played Northwestern on April 8, 2018, when the Wolverines won, 4-0, in Evanston, Illinois.

• The Wildcats come into Friday's matchup with a 12-9 record, having defeated both Iowa and Nebraska last weekend (March 30-31). Northwestern is led by Antonioni Fasano, who has an 8-5 record in the No. 2 singles spot, while the duo of Simen Bratholm and Nick Brooks are the No. 19-ranked doubles pairing, according to ITA.

• Illinois and Michigan have an extensive history in men's tennis, with Sunday marking the 109th meeting between the two programs. Michigan holds a 65-41-1 advantage in the overall series against the Fighting Illini. Illinois bested the Wolverines twice last season, defeating U-M, 4-2, (April 7, 2018) in Champaign, then earned a berth in the Big Ten tournament final with a 4-1 win over Michigan (April 28) in the semifinals.

• Illinois enters the weekend with an 11-6 overall record, having won its last four matches. They most recently defeated Iowa, 5-1, on Sunday (March 31). The Fighting Illini are led by Aleksander Kovacevic, who is ranked No. 9 by the ITA, and has a 12-0 overall record at the No.1 spot in singles play. Alex Brown is the other Illini ranked player, coming in at No. 42. Brown also is ranked No. 54 in doubles alongside teammate Caleb Chakravarthi.

• Ranked No. 55 by the ITA, Michigan sophomore Mattias Siimar sports a 13-13 record and is 7-8 in dual matches from the No. 1 spot in the lineup. The last win for the native of Estonia was a 7-5, 7-5 victory against Purdue's Julio Mateo at the BNP Paribas Open Collegiate Tennis Challenge (March 15-17).

• Michigan freshman Andrew Fenty has a team-leading 20-4 mark in singles play, with a 13-1 record in dual-match play, competing at the Nos. 2 and 3 spots in the lineup. Fenty also is riding a team-high 12-match win streak after winning both of his matches last weekend and earned the first ITA ranking of his career (No. 98).

Up Next

Saturday, April 13 -- vs. Minnesota (Varsity Tennis Center), noon