Feb. 8, 2013
Box Score PDF
MADISON, Wis. - The Badgers remain unstoppable at Nielsen Tennis Stadium, proving themselves in a 5-2 victory over the University of California-Irvine on Friday night.
Play began with three tight doubles matches against the Anteaters. At the No. 1 pairing, Billy Bertha and Oskar Wikberg came back to tally an 8-4 win after trailing early on in the match. Petr Satral and Alexander Kostanov did not fare as well at the No. 2 spot, falling to UC-Irvine's Jonathan Hammel and Shuhei Shibahara in a tiebreaker, 7-8 (7-4).
With the matches tied up 1-1, the doubles point came down to the No. 3 pairing of Jakhongir Jalalov and Alexander Kokorev. Neither team held the lead for long, but the Badgers were able to pull ahead in the tiebreaker to win it 8-7 (7-4) against Tyler Pham and Jonathan Poon.
In singles play, Kostanov gave Wisconsin its second point in a dominating 6-2, 6-2 victory over UC-Irvine's Jacob Jung. At the No. 1 spot, Bertha came away with a 6-3, 6-4 win to tally the third point for the Badgers.
With the Badgers up 3-0, UC-Irvine came back to win the next two points. Pham handed Wikberg his first singles loss of the season in a close 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 match. Carrying on the momentum was Hammel with a 7-5, 6-4 defeat of Jalalov.
Wisconsin didn't let UC-Irvine continue its win streak, as the Badgers went on to clinch the victory. Satral fought through a tiebreak and loss in the first set to come back and take the next two, defeating Asami 6-7 (6-4), 6-2, 6-2 and tallying the win for Wisconsin. Following Satral's lead was Kokorev at the No. 6 spot earning a win against Shibahara in three sets.
The Badgers are now 5-0 for the first time to start a season since 2009. Wisconsin will be back on the court Sunday at 11 a.m. to face its second ranked opponent of the weekend with a match against No. 57 Clemson at Nielsen Tennis Stadium.
FINAL RESULTS
WISCONSIN 5 UC-Irvine 2
DOUBLES
1) Billy Bertha/Oskar Wikberg (WIS) def. Ryan Cheung/Jacob Jung (UCI): 8-4
2) Jonathan Hammel/Shuhei Shibahara (UCI) def. Petr Satral/Alexander Kostanov (WIS): 8-7 (7-5)
3) Jakhongir Jalalov/Alexander Kokorev (WIS) def. Tyler Pham/Janathan Poon (UCI): 8-7 (7-4)
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3
SINGLES
1) Billy Bertha (WIS) def. Ryan Cheung (UCI): 6-3, 6-4
2) Jonathan Hammel (UCI) def. Oskar Wikberg (WIS): 7-6 (6), 6-3
3) Petr Satral (WIS) vs. Reo Asami (UCI): 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-2
4) Alexander Kostanov (WIS) vs. Jacob Jung (UCI): 6-2, 6-1
5) Janathan Hammel (UCI) def. Jakhongir Jalalov (WIS): 7-5, 6-4
6) Alexander Kokorev (WIS) def. Shuhei Shibahara (UCI): 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
Order of Finish: 4, 1, 2, 5, 3, 6
