Michigan
Illinois
Michigan Falls to Illinois in Big Ten Tournament Semifinal
5/1/2021 6:30:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Site: Lincoln, Neb. (Dillon Tennis Center)
Event: Big Ten Tournament (Semifinals)
Result: #13 Illinois 4, #23 Michigan 2
Records: U-M (15-4), ILL (20-2)
Next U-M Event: Monday, May 3 -- NCAA Selection Show (NCAA.com), 6:30 p.m.
LINCOLN, Neb. -- The No. 23-ranked University of Michigan men's tennis team secured the doubles point but fell behind in singles to No. 13 Illinois and could not recover, falling 4-2 in the Big Ten Tournament semifinal on Saturday (May 1) at Nebraska's Dillon Tennis Center.
Nino Ehrenschneider and Connor Johnston took a 6-4 win at No. 3 doubles to start the day. The pair fell behind 3-2 before winning three straight to take a 5-3 lead. Illinois took the next game but Ehrenschneider and Johnston clinched the match on a serve from Ehrenscheider and a shot by Johnston that could not be returned.
Moments later on court 1, the No. 45-ranked team of Andrew Fenty and Mattias Siimar posted a 6-4 win over No. 28 Alex Brown and Zeke Clark. It marked the Wolverine duo's third win over a ranked pair this season. Tied at 3-3, the intensity ramped up as Fenty and Siimar won two straight games to sit one game away, 5-3. After dropping the next game, the Michigan pair clinched the match as Fenty served up a rocket that Clark returned, deflecting off of Siimar's racquet to the right line where the quick feet of Fenty were able to keep it in play, and he sent back a shot Clark was unable to put over the net.
Illinois pulled off three comsecutive straight-set singles wins at the top of the lineup to take over the lead 3-1.
Nick Beaty and Ehrenschneider were in their third sets at Nos. 5 and 6, respectively, with both coming back to keep Michigan alive with second-set victories. Siimar won his first set 6-4 at No. 4 singles.
Things could not have been closer as all three matches were tied at one point.
Siimar never trailed in his second set but never led by more than two over No. 83 Zeke Clark. Tied 2-2, they traded three wins apiece to push the score to 5-5. Siimar won the next two games to take No. 5 singles, 6-4, 7-5 and put Michigan within one of the team score 3-2.
At No. 6, Ehrenschneider and Noe Khlif were tied at 1-1 before Khlif took four straight and a 5-2 edge. Ehrenschneider held him off, winning the next game, but he was not able to recover in a 6-3 loss.
Beaty's match at No. 5 was tied at 1-1 in the third set when it was abandoned.
The 2021 NCAA Men's Tennis Championship selections are to be announced at 6:30 p.m. on Monday (May 3). The show will be streamed live on NCAA.com.
Following are match-by-match results
Singles
No. 1 -- No. 118 Aleks Kovacevic (ILL) d. Ondrej Styler (U-M), 6-4, 6-1
No. 2 -- No. 101 Siphosothando Montsi (ILL) d. Andrew Fenty (U-M), 6-2, 6-3
No. 3 -- Alex Brown (ILL) d. Patrick Maloney (U-M), 6-4, 6-4
No. 4 -- Mattias Siimar (U-M) d. #83 Zeke Clark (ILL), 6-4, 7-5
No. 5 -- Nick Beaty (U-M) vs. Hunter Heck (ILL), 6-7 (5), 6-4, 1-1 abandoned
No. 6 -- Noe Khlif (ILL) d. Nino Ehrenschneider (U-M), 6-1, 6-7 (2), 6-3
Doubles
No. 1 -- No. 45 Andrew Fenty/Mattias Siimar (U-M) d. #28 Alex Brown/Zeke Clark (ILL), 6-4
No. 2 -- Patrick Maloney/Ondrej Styler (U-M) vs. Noe Khlif/Siphosothando Montsi (ILL), 5-6 abandoned
No. 3 -- Nino Ehrenschneider/Connor Johnston (U-M) d. Aleks Kovacevic/Hunter Heck (ILL), 6-4
Order of Completion: Doubles 3-1, Singles 1-3-2-4-6
Players Mentioned
