Michigan
Florida
Michigan Set for Home-Opening Trifecta vs. Florida, Harvard, California
2/7/2018 7:07:00 PM | Men's Tennis
» No. 13 Michigan will have its first home dual matches of 2018, hosting No. 11 Florida, Harvard, and No. 23 California over the weekend.
» The Wolverines are 3-1 on the season following a 4-0 win over No. 25 South Carolina and a 4-2 loss at the hands of No. 3 North Carolina in the ITA Kick-Off two weekends ago.
» Senior Alex Knight enters the weekend on a nine-match win streak and is ranked No. 3 in the nation. Knight is the first U-M player ranked in the top five since Evan King in the 2012-13 season (No. 4).
THIS WEEK
Friday, Feb. 9 -- vs. #11 Florida (Varsity Tennis Center), 6 p.m. | Live Scoring/Video
Saturday, Feb. 10 -- vs. Harvard (Varsity Tennis Center), 1 p.m. | Live Scoring/Video
Sunday, Feb. 11 -- vs. #23 California (Varsity Tennis Center), noon | Live Scoring/Video
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 13-ranked University of Michigan men's tennis team (3-1) will host three matches this weekend (Feb. 9-11) at the Varsity Tennis Center. The Wolverines will host No. 11 Florida (3-1) on Friday, Harvard (6-0) on Saturday, and No. 23 California (3-1) on Sunday in the team's first slate of home dual matches this season.
• The first 100 fans in attendance to Friday's match will receive a Michigan tennis T-shirt, while free pizza will be given out on a first-come, first-served basis. Team posters will also be handed out at all home matches this weekend.
• The Wolverines have compiled a record of 24-2 in dual-match play at the Varsity Tennis Center over the past two years, including an undefeated 14-0 record in non-conference contests.
• Florida heads into the weekend with a 3-1 record, while having yet to lose a doubles point in dual-match play this season. The Gators defeated South Alabama and University of South Florida in the ITA Kick-Off two weekends ago (Jan. 27-28), before dropping a 4-3 match at the hands of Florida State University last Saturday (Feb. 3).
• The Gators have three doubles pairings ranked in the top 10 by the ITA. The No. 1 doubles match on Friday will feature two of the best duos in the nation, with a projected matchup of No. 9 Alex Knight/Runhao Hua (Michigan) against No. 2 Johannes Ingildsen/Alfredo Perez (Florida).
• Florida holds a 2-1 lead over Michigan in the all-time series. The two programs last squared off in 2009 at the ITA Indoor consolation round in Chicago, Ill., with the Gators winning, 4-1.
• Harvard will come into the weekend with a 6-0 record, the program's best start since the 2004-05 season. Crimson junior Andy Zhou is ranked No. 115 by the ITA and rides a five-match win streak, all of which have been in straight-sets. The Wolverines are the first nationally ranked team that Harvard will face in dual-match play this season.
• Michigan is 5-1 against Harvard all-time. Most recently, the Wolverines beat Harvard, 5-2, in 2009 at the Varsity Center.
• Michigan last faced California on Feb. 28, 2017, in Berkeley, California. The Golden Bears, ranked No. 7 at the time, defeated the then No. 9 Wolverines in a tightly contested 4-3 match. Both Runhao Hua and Carter Lin won their singles matches in the setback. California holds a 4-3 lead in the series between the two programs.
• U-M senior Alex Knight carries a nine-match win streak and is ranked No. 3 by the ITA after an impressive three-set victory over No. 4 William Blumberg (North Carolina) two weekends ago. Knight is the first U-M player ranked in the top five since Evan King in the 2012-13 season (No.4).
• Senior Runhao Hua and junior Myles Schalet were ranked in the latest ITA poll at No. 42 and No. 113, respectively, while Hua and Knight came in at No. 9 in the doubles rankings.
NCAA RULES
Each team match will be a contest for the best of seven team points. Doubles action will begin immediately with no warmup, so fans are encouraged to arrive on time for matches. In addition, each doubles match will be one set to six, with a tiebreaker occurring at 6-all. The team that wins two-of-three matches will secure the doubles point. Following a five-minute intermission, singles action will begin with each match worth one point towards the team score. There will be no-ad scoring in both singles and doubles action. In addition, there is to be no noise made between first and second serves this season as part of new ITA sportsmanship guidelines.
Players Mentioned
