Miami Edged by No. 30 Wisconsin, 4-3
March 31, 2010
Coral Gables, Fla. – The No. 51 University of Miami men’s tennis team fell to No. 30 Wisconsin, 4-3, at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center on Wednesday afternoon.
Miami (6-9) got off to a strong start, sweeping all three doubles matches – including two versus ranked Wisconsin duos – to take the early 1-0 lead. At the No. 1 position, UM’s tandem of Christian Blöcker and David Simon won their second-straight match, upending Wisconsin’s 15th-ranked Moritz Baumann and Marek Michalicka, 8-5, to improve to 13-8 this season.
UM’s 57th-ranked duo of Keith Crowley and Hector Nieto cruised past the Badgers’ 79th-ranked Luke Rassow-Kantor and Michael Dierberger, 8-4, to move to 10-3 in doubles competition.
All-American Carl Sundberg and Barnabas Carrega battled back from a 7-3 deficit to complete the doubles sweep with the 8-7 (7-3) win at the No. 3 spot to even their season record at 3-3.
But it was the Badgers (11-5) – who have two players ranked among the nation’s Top 25 – who came out hot in singles play, winning the top-three flights in straight-sets to take the 3-1 advantage.
Simon got the Hurricanes within striking distance with his own straight-sets victory at No.4, downing Wisconsin’s Billy Bertha, 6-3, 7-5, to bring UM within one point at 3-2. The senior, who has won seven of his last nine singles matches, improved to a team-best 17-8 this season with today’s win.
But Wisconsin prevailed with the 6-4, 6-4 decision at No. 6, sending Miami to its third-straight loss to a Top 30 opponent.
“This was a real heartbreaker for us today,” said Miami head coach Mario Rincon. “Wisconsin has a really good team and they simply played tougher than us today. We need to recover from this quickly and get it going in the last month of our schedule in order to make NCAAs.
“However, I am extremely proud of both David Simon and Hector Nieto. They have been important players for us this season, and they are really putting together strong senior campaigns. They lead by example and get key wins when we need them.”
Waylon Chin earned his ninth win of the season for the Hurricanes, with the 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 decision at the No. 5 position.
The Hurricanes return to ACC play at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center this weekend, playing host No. 24 Wake Forest on Fri., April 2, at 3 p.m. and No. 40 NC State on Sun., April 4, at 1 p.m. Admission is free.
No. 30 Wisconsin 4, No. 51 Miami 3
Singles
1. #21 Marek Michalicka (WIS) def. Christian Blocker (UM) 6-4, 6-1
2. #17 Moritz Baumann (WIS) def. #110 Carl Sundberg (UM) 6-3, 6-4
3. Patrick Pohlmann (WIS) def. Keith Crowley (UM) 6-4, 6-1
4. David Simon (UM) def. Billy Bertha (WIS) 6-3, 7-5
5. Waylon Chin (UM) def. Chris Freeman (WIS) 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
6. Ricardo Martin (WIS) def. Ignacio Taboada (UM) 6-4, 6-4
Order of finish: (3, 1, 2, 4, 6*, 5)
Doubles
1. Christian Blocker/David Simon (UM) def. #15 Moritz Baumann/Marek Michalicka (WIS) 8-5
2. Keith Crowley/Hector Nieto (UM) def. #79 Luke Rassow-Kantor/Michael Dierberger (WIS) 8-4
3. Carl Sundberg/Barnabas Carrega (UM) def. Patrick Pohlmann/Billy Bertha (WIS) 8-7 (7-3)
Order of finish: (2, 1*, 3)
