Oct. 19, 2009
Singles Draw 
Doubles Draw
MADISON, Wis. – Senior Moritz Baumann never went to a third set as he defeated six opponents on his way to the singles title at the Wilson/ITA Midwest Regional Championships. Baumann faced ninth-seeded Casey Watt of Notre Dame in the final round on Monday afternoon to claim his first collegiate title.
“It was well deserved,” said head coach Greg Van Emburgh. “Moritz has been doing a great job at practice and at all the tournaments. I was happy to see him get his first title.”
In the first set, Baumann cruised to a 5-0 lead before Watt could respond. After an easy 6-1 first set, Watt challenged Baumann in the second, tying it up at 2-2 after Baumann broke him to go up 2-0. Watt went up 6-5, but Baumann would tie it up to force a tiebreak which he won easily.
Baumann won the decision by a 6-1, 7-6 (1) score to claim the singles title.
“I’m excited, it feels really good,” said the senior tri-captain. “I never lost a set and I won the big points and played a couple of tiebreaks, I did really well on those.
“I saw him (Watt) playing throughout the weekend and knew he could play a long match. So I knew I had to get up on him early. I won the first set easily but he came out tough in the second. It went to a tiebreak and I did really good and was able to get the win.”
Less than an hour after his singles championship, Baumann partnered with junior Marek Michalicka in an effort to sweep the tournament and claim the doubles title. After a first-round bye, the duo cruised to the semifinals beating their first three opponents by at least five games. The top-seeded pair was halted, however, when they matched up with Illinois’ Marek Czerwinski and Dennis Nevolo.
The Badgers started strong, breaking serve to go up 3-1, before the Illini duo responded to knot the score at three games apiece. Illinois went up 7-4, but it was the Badgers who rallied, winning three straight games to set the score at 7-7. Baumann and Michalicka’s run ended when the Czerwinski and Nevolo claimed the next two games to finish the match with a 9-7 score.
As a team, the Badgers finished the tournament 15-6 in singles play and 4-3 in doubles competition. The Badgers will now prepare for the Big Ten Singles Tournament while Baumann and Michalicka prepare for the ITA National Indoor Championships which both fall on Nov. 5-8.
