Michigan
Northwestern
Michigan Beats Northwestern, Advances to B1G Tournament Championship Match
4/29/2023 8:50:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Site: Bloomington, Ind. (IU Tennis Center)
Score: #2 Michigan 4, #3 Northwestern 2
Records: U-M (24-3), NU (20-9)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, April 30 -- vs. #3 Ohio State - Big Ten Tournament championship match (Bloomington, Ind.), Noon
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The No. 7-ranked University of Michigan men's tennis team earned a rematch with Ohio State after defeating Northwestern 4-2 in Saturday's (April 29) Big Ten Tournament semifinal.
The Wolverines will battle the Buckeyes in the championship match on Sunday (April 30) at noon, looking to avenge their only conference loss of the season. The match will be streamed live on B1G+.
In a nail-biter match, it was No. 36-ranked Patrick Maloney that secured the fourth point for Michigan at No. 3 singles.
Northwestern got on the board with Ivan Yatsuk's 6-3, 6-0 upset of No. 16 Andrew Fenty at No. 2 singles.
Michigan won first sets at Nos. 1 and 6, while the Wildcats were up sets at Nos. 3, 4 and 5. The Wolverines started to find momentum, winning second sets at 3, 4 and 5 before a momentary weather delay.
Nino Ehrenschneider earned Michigan's second point, overcoming a 6-3 first-set loss with 6-1 and 6-3 sets over Trice Pickens.
No. 10 Ondrej Styler, who won five straight points to take a 6-1 first set over No. 25 Steven Forman, found himself trailing 4-0 in the second before a monster comeback. After finding confidence on winning the next two games, he tied it at 5-5 and eventually a tiebreaker. Down 3-0 in the tiebreak, Styler won four straight to take the lead 4-3. Styler and Forman traded points before Styler closed with two straight for the 7-5 final.
Northwestern got another point at No. 6 as Jacob Bickersteth lost 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, making it a 3-2 team score.
Maloney and No. 59 Gavin Young were both in third sets that decided the match.
Maloney broke Simen Bratholm to take a 3-2 lead and went ahead 4-2 on his next serve. Bratholm returned the break, 4-3, but Maloney broke him again and held serve to take the 6-4 third set.
Young and Presley Thieneman were tied 4-4 before Young broke him to take a 5-4 lead, before the match was abandoned following Maloney's math clincher.
The Wolverines earned the doubles point with ease. The No. 7-ranked duo of Fenty and Young cruised to a 6-1 win at No. 1 over Forman and Bratholm. Styler and Bickersteth took a 6-3 match at No. 3 from Natan Spears and Pickens, winning the last three points after being knotted at 3-3.
Following are match-by-match results
Singles
No. 1 – No. 10 Ondrej Styler (U-M) d. No. 25 Steven Forman (NU), 6-1, 7-6 (5)
No. 2 – Ivan Yatsuk (NU) d. No. 16 Andrew Fenty (U-M), 6-3, 6-0
No. 3 – No. 36 Patrick Maloney (U-M) d. Simen Bratholm (NU), 5-7, 6-3, 6-4
No. 4 – Nino Ehrenschneider (U-M) d. Trice Pickens (NU), 3-6, 6-1 6-2
No. 5 – No. 59 Gavin Young (U-M) vs. Presley Thieneman (NU), 6-7 (4), 6-2, 5-4 abandoned
No. 6 – Gleb Blekher (NU) d. Jacob Bickersteth (U-M), 6-4, 3-6, 6-2
Doubles
No. 1 – No. 7 Andrew Fenty/Gavin Young (U-M) d. Steven Forman/Simen Bratholm (NU), 6-1
No. 2 – Patrick Maloney/Nino Ehrenschneider (U-M) vs. Ivan Yatsuk/Gleb Blekher (NU), 5-4 abandoned
No. 3 – Ondrej Styler/Jacob Bickersteth (U-M) d. Natan Spear/Trice Pickens (NU), 6-3
Order of Completion: Doubles 1-3, Singles 2-4-1-6-3
Players Mentioned
