Young Badgers gain experience in fall season
December 28, 2010 | Men's Tennis
Dec. 28, 2010
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Fall Season in Review
The Wisconsin men's tennis team competed in seven tournaments during the 2010 fall slate. Three rookies saw their first collegiate action, while four returners continued to work on their game. The Badgers return to the courts for the 2011 regular season Jan. 22, 2011.
2010 Fall wrap-up
Overall, the Badgers went 40-38 in singles play during the fall season for a .513 winning percentage. Freshmen Petr Satral led the team with nine singles wins at 9-5, while fellow newcomer Alex Robles was 8-5. Senior captain Marek Michalicka was 6-5, and redshirt freshman Alex Teppert also posted six singles victories. Satral ended the fall campaign on a three-match winning streak.
In doubles action, Wisconsin was 16-16 overall. The sophomore duo of Billy Bertha and Ricardo Martin led the Badgers at 5-2 in doubles action this fall. Bertha also paired with Satral, going 3-1 in four matches.
Wisconsin opened the fall season at the Milwaukee Tennis Classic. Bertha and Martin led the Badgers as the duo earned three wins and was named the men's doubles champions.
Michalicka, Bertha and Martin then headed to Charlottesville, Va., for the UVa Ranked Plus One Invitational, led by Michalicka's 3-1 singles record.
After competing in the ITA All-American Tennis Championship, Michalicka represented his native Czech Republic at the ITF USA F26 Futures Qualifying tournament in Austin, Texas, while the rest of the team was at the Northwestern Wildcat Invitational.
Robles, Teppert, Martin and Satral each posted 2-2 records in singles action at the Wildcat Invitational; Satral and Martin led the UW in doubles play with a 2-1 mark at the tournament.
Satral led the Badgers as they wrapped up the fall season at the Big Ten Fall Singles Championship. The
Klatovy, Czech Republic, native went 4-2 in singles and paired with Bertha for a 3-1 doubles mark.
2010-11 Roster breakdown
Wisconsin returns senior Marek Michalicka, sophomores Billy Bertha and Ricardo Martin and redshirt freshman Alexander Teppert from last year's NCAA Round of 16 team. The Badgers welcome newcomers Alex Robles, Petr Satral and Amir Mashal for the upcoming season.
Michalicka named captain
Michalicka has been chosen as the Badgers' captain this season. The senior enters his second season leading UW after serving as a tri-captain during the 2010 season. Heading into his senior season, Michalicka owns a 74-23 career singles record and a 67-32 doubles mark. The Ricany, Czech Republic, native is a two-time All-Big Ten honoree and was named the conference's freshman of the year in 2008.
2010-11 Schedule
The Badgers look to pick up where they left off after concluding the 2010 season ranked No. 23 for their highest team ranking of the season.
This season, UW faces 11 teams that participated in the 2010 NCAA Championships. Wisconsin plays 14 home matches in addition to hosting the 2011 Big Ten Conference Tournament. The Badgers welcome Butler, UW-Whitewater, Notre Dame, Marquette, Nebraska, Green Bay, Northern Illinois and Texas A&M, along with Big Ten Conference foes Minnesota, Northwestern, Purdue, Indiana, Ohio State and Penn State to Nielsen Tennis Stadium.
The Big Ten Tournament is slated for April 28-May 1 at Nielsen. Wisconsin will host the event for the first time since 2001.
2009-10 NCAA Rewind
In its sixth NCAA Team Championship appearance, Wisconsin (21-9) rallied past two teams to advance to its first-ever NCAA Round of 16. The Badgers, in their fourth-straight NCAA appearance, took out No. 39 Notre Dame, 4-2, in the opening round before downing No. 13 Illinois by a score of 4-1 in the second round. With the victories, Wisconsin avenged earlier losses as both teams defeated the Badgers during the 2010 regular season.
The team's most successful postseason run in program history ended at the hands of a familiar foe in Ohio State. The 27th-ranked Badgers dropped a 4-0 decision to the No. 4 Buckeyes in the round of 16 in Athens, Ga.
Along with the team's postseason run, Moritz Baumann and Marek Michalicka were selected by the NCAA as at-large selections to compete in singles and doubles in the 2010 NCAA Championships in Athens, Ga., at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. Michalicka advanced to the second round for the first time in his career, finishing the season with a 21-6 singles mark. Baumann fell to No. 4-ranked Guillermo Gomez of Georgia Tech in his third consecutive NCAA singles appearance and concluded the spring season with a 16-8 singles mark.
Michalicka and Baumann also made their first career appearances in the NCAA doubles championship. The duo, then ranked No. 15, took on the overall No. 1 seed in Duke's Henrique Cunha and Reid Carleto. The top-ranked duo knocked off the Badgers in straight sets, 6-3, 7-5, playing a best of three series, to bring Wisconsin's season to an end. Baumann and Michalicka finished the season 12-8 as a pair, including a 2-1 mark in the NCAA team championships.
Up next
Wisconsin opens its spring slate with a double-header against Butler and UW-Whitewater at Nielsen Tennis Stadium Jan. 22, 2011. The Badgers kick off the regular season at 10 a.m. with the second match scheduled for 4 p.m.
Players Mentioned
