Wolverines Defeat Broncos to Open Dual Match Season

Saturday, January 17

Ann Arbor, Mich.

10:00 AM

Michigan

Western Michigan

1/17/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan men's tennis team opened its 2004 dual match season with a commanding 6-1 victory over Western Michigan Saturday (Jan. 17) at the Varsity Tennis Center. The Wolverines clinched the doubles point with a pair of 8-4 wins at the top two positions, and dominated singles play with victories in five of six matches.

Senior Anthony Jackson (Glendale, Wis./Nicolet HS) and freshman Brian Hung (Hong Kong, China/Sagemont Virtual School) provided U-M with its first victory of the day with an 8-4 win over Brady Crosby and Tommy Dennis at No. 1 doubles. Five minutes later, the tandem of junior Michael Rubin (Canton, Ohio/Canton Central Catholic HS) and freshman Ryan Heller (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North HS) secured Michigan's first team point with an 8-4 victory over Jose Orozco and Dan Grupp at No. 2. The Broncos prevented the sweep thanks to an 8-4 win from Ravi Pathanjali and Jeff French over juniors Josef Fischer (Nuernberg, Germany/Bradenton Academy) and Vinny Gossain (Okemos, Mich./Okemos HS) at the third spot.

Heller got the Wolverines off to a good start in singles play, handily defeating Erik Lindroos (6-3, 6-2) at No. 4. Jackson kept the momentum in Michigan's favor with 7-5, 6-1 win over Dennis at No. 2. A 6-4, 6-2 win by freshman Steve Peretz (Brooklyn, N.Y./The Dwight School) over Justin Kates at No. 5 gave Michigan its fourth point and clinched the team victory.

Rubin carried his impressive play during the fall over into the dual match opener, handing Pathanali a 6-2, 6-3 defeat at the top spot. In the most dramatic match of the afternoon, Hung came back to defeat Orozco in a tiebreaker at No. 5. After falling 6-2 in the first set, Hung battled back for a 7-6(3) win in the second frame. The pair fought point for point in the super tiebreaker, until Hung eventually pulled out a 14-12 win to give Michigan its sixth and final point.

Crosby provided Western Michigan with its lone singles win at No. 6, defeating junior David Anving (Tvaaker, Sweden/Varbergs Gymnasieskola) 6-3, 6-3.

The Wolverines return to the hardcourt against DePaul tomorrow afternoon. The match is slated to start at noon at the Varsity Tennis Center.

Following are match-by-match results:

Singles
No. 1 -- #34 Michael Rubin (U-M) d. Ravi Pathanjali, 6-2, 6-3
No. 2 -- Anthony Jackson (U-M) d. Tommy Dennis, 7-5, 6-1
No. 3 -- Brian Hung (U-M) d. Jose Orozco, 2-6, 7-6(3), 1-0(12)
No. 4 -- Ryan Heller (U-M) d. Erik Lindroos, 6-3, 6-2
No. 5 -- Steve Peretz (U-M) d. Justin Kates, 6-4, 6-2
No. 6 -- Brady Crosby (WMU) d. David Anving, 6-3, 6-3

Doubles
No. 1 -- Jackson/Hung (U-M) d. Crosby/Dennis, 8-4
No. 2 -- M. Rubin/Heller (U-M) d. Orozco/Dan Grupp, 8-4
No. 3 -- Pathanjali/ Jeff French (WMU) d. Josef Fischer/Vinny Gossain, 8-4

N O T E S

The Wolverines have now won seven of eight home openers at the Varsity Tennis Center and have a 53-16 all-time record at the facility.

U-M improves its all-time record against Western Michigan to 45-8.

Anthony Jackson notched his 45th career doubles win, and Michael Rubin moved within one singles victory of 50 for his career.

Ryan Heller, Brian Hung and Steve Peretz each picked up his first career dual match singles victory.

Michael Rubin reached his 50th career singles win against Western Michigan.

Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423