Michigan
Northwestern
Wolverines Claw Past Wildcats to Open Weekend at the VTC
4/5/2019 6:43:00 PM | Men's Tennis
» Michigan clinched the doubles point and four of six singles matches.
» Gabe Tishman clinched the match after a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 victory at No. 6 for his 14th win of the season.
» Myles Schalet held off match point at 3-5 in the second set to pull off the come-from-behind win at No. 3.
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Varsity Tennis Center)
Result: #20 Michigan 5, Northwestern 2
Records: U-M (13-5, 4-2 B1G), Northwestern (12-10, 3-4 B1G)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, April 7 -- vs. No. 15 Illinois (Varsity Tennis Center), noon
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 20-ranked University of Michigan men's tennis team earned the doubles point and won four of six singles matches en route to a 5-2 win over Northwestern in a Big Ten matchup on Friday afternoon (April 5) at the Varsity Tennis Center.
The Wolverines appeared to have the doubles point on lock in the early stages, holding commanding leads on all three courts. But the Wildcats battled back and took the win at No. 1, 6-4. The duo of freshman Andrew Fenty and senior Myles Schalet held on for a 6-3 win at No. 2. Junior Connor Johnston and freshman Patrick Maloney clinched the doubles point with a 6-4 win at No. 3, holding off Northwestern's comeback attempt after leading, 5-1, and holding serve for match point at 5-2.
Michigan claimed its second point of the afternoon at No. 2, where sophomore Mattias Siimar earned a straight-sets victory (6-2, 6-3) for his 14th win of the season, snapping his four-match winless streak.
Michigan clinched the dual match with wins at Nos. 5 and 6. Playing in the five spot, Maloney cruised in the first set, 6-0, then battled back to a 6-2 win in the third set after dropping a 2-6 decision in the second. Senior Gabe Tishman earned match-winning point at No. 6 with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 victory for his career-high 14th win of the season.
The Wildcats went on to pick up wins at Nos. 1 and 4 for their lone points. Fenty saw his impressive 12-match winning streak come to a close. Playing at the No. 1 spot for the first time, Fenty won the first set, 7-5, before dropping the second set, 4-6. Due to the match being clinched, the third set was settled by a 10 point tiebreaker, which went in Northwestern's favor, 3-10.
Schalet earned Michigan's final point at No. 3. After dropping the first set and behind 3-5 in the second, he battled off a match point to come back and force a tiebreaker, winning that, 7-5. Schalet won the 10 point tiebreaker, 10-8 to clinch the come-from-behind victory.
Michigan will be back at the Varsity Tennis Center on Sunday (April 7) when it hosts No. 15-ranked Illinois at noon. Illinois bested the Wolverines twice last season, 4-2 on 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.
Following are match-by-match results
Singles
No. 1 -- Dominik Stary (NU) d. No. 98 Andrew Fenty (U-M), 5-7, 6-4, 10-3
No. 2 -- No. 55 Mattias Siimar (U-M) d. Antonioni Fasano (NU), 6-2, 6-3
No. 3 -- Myles Schalet (U-M) d. Chris Ephron (NU), 6-7 (0), 7-6 (5), 10-8
No. 4 -- Simen Bratholm (NU) d. Connor Johnston (U-M), 5-7. 6-3, 6-1
No. 5 -- Patrick Maloney (U-M) d. Trice Pickens (NU), 6-0, 2-6, 6-2
No. 6 -- Gabe Tishman (U-M) d. Jason Seidman (NU), 6-1, 3-6, 6-3
Doubles
No. 1 -- Chris Ephron/Dominik Stary (NU) d. Harrison Brown/Mattias Siimar (U-M), 6-4
No. 2 -- Andrew Fenty/Myles Schalet (U-M) d. Antonioni Fasano/Trice Pickens (NU), 6-3
No. 3 -- Connor Johnston/Gabe Tishman (U-M) d. Simen Bratholm/Ben Vandixhom, 6-4
Order of Completion: Doubles 1-2-3 Singles 2-6-5-1-4
Players Mentioned
