Michigan
Northwestern
Michigan Downs Northwestern to Kick Off Regular-Season Ending Homestand
4/21/2023 7:27:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Varsity Tennis Center)
Score: #7 Michigan 4, Northwestern 1
Records: U-M (21-3, 7-1 B1G), Northwestern (18-8, 6-2 B1G)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, April 23 -- vs. Illinois (Varsirt Tennis Center), Noon
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan men's tennis team took sole possession of second place in the Big Ten standings after a 4-1 win over Northwestern on Friday (April 21) at the Varsity Tennis Center, with one match remaining in the regular season.
Michigan secured the doubles point after an all-out battle. After trading games at No. 2 doubles Patrick Maloney and Nino Ehrenschneider fell behind 1-0 to No. 80 Ivan Yatsuck and Gleb Blekher in the tiebreaker before rattling off seven straight points to win 7-6 (1).
Ondrej Styler and Jacob Bickersteth led 3-1 at No. 3 before the Wildcats won two straight games. Tied at 5-5, the Wolverines took a 6-5 lead and then broke Natan Spear and Trice Pickens to take the match 7-5.
No. 8-ranked Andrew Fenty and Gavin Young were neck-and-neck with No. 61-ranked Steven Forman and Simen Bratholm as they headed into a tiebreaker on court one. The match was abandoned at 6-6 with the tiebreaker knotted at 4-4.
The Wolverines were in great position, winning five of six first sets.
Winning his 10th match of the season, No. 33-ranked Maloney put up 6-2 and 6-3 scores over Bratholm at No. 3. At No. 1, No. 60-ranked Forman was able to take a match from No. 11-ranked Fenty 6-2, 6-3 to keep the Wildcats in the match, 2-1.
Bickersteth pushed Michigan within one of clinching the team match, taking 6-2, 6-4 matches from Blekher. Bickersteth is now 5-1 in Big Ten play and 18-6 on the season.
Minutes later, Young clinched the Michigan win after dominating the second set tiebreak 7-0. After taking a 6-1 set, Presley Thieneman grabbed a 3-1 edge in the second set. Young won the next two games and they went back-and-forth until Young took over in the tiebreak, his 20th singles win of the year.
Styler won his first set 7-6 (5) against Yatsuk and was tied 4-4 in the second, while Ehrenschneider and Pickens were knotted at 2-2 in the third when both matches were abandoned.
Michigan will honor seniors Styler, Maloney and Fenty on Senior Day on Sunday (April 23) between doubles and singles play versus Illinois. The match at the Varsity Tennis Center begins at noon.
Following are match-by-match results
Singles
No. 1 – No. 60 Steven Forman (NU) d. No. 11 Andrew Fenty (U-M), 6-2, 6-3
No. 2 – No. 7 Ondrej Styler (U-M) vs. Ivan Yatsuk (NU), 7-6 (5), 4-4 abandoned
No. 3 – No. 33 Patrick Maloney (U-M) d. Simen Bratholm (NU), 6-2, 6-3
No. 4 – Nino Ehrenschneider (U-M) vs. Trice Pickens (NU), 6-1, 3-6, 2-2 abandoned
No. 5 – No. 53 Gavin Young (U-M) d. Presley Thieneman (NU), 6-1, 7-6 (0)
No. 6 – Jacob Bickersteth (U-M) d. Gleb Blekher (NU), 6-2, 6-4
Doubles
No. 1 – No. 8 Andrew Fenty/Gavin Young (U-M) vs. No. 61 Steven Forman/Simen Bratholm (NU), 6-6 (5-5) abandoned
No. 2 – Patrick Maloney/Nino Ehrenschneider (U-M) d. No. 80 Ivan Yatsuk/Gleb Blekher (NU), 7-6 (1)
No. 3 – Ondrej Styler/Jacob Bickersteth (U-M) d. Natan Spear/Trice Pickens (NU), 7-5
Order of Completion: Doubles 2-3, Singles 3-1-6-5
Players Mentioned
