This Week: Wisconsin travels Milwaukee Tennis Classic

Thursday, September 21

Milwaukee, Wis.

All Day

Wisconsin Badgers

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Photo by: David Stluka

This Week: Wisconsin travels Milwaukee Tennis Classic

September 19, 2017 | Men's Tennis

Four Badgers look to clinch wild card entry to ITA Fall National Championships

MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin men's tennis team will send four players down I-94 this weekend to participate in the 42nd-annual Milwaukee Tennis Classic at the Western Racquet Club. The Badgers will be represented by senior Lamar Remy and sophomore Chase Colton as well as freshmen Robert Krill and Martim Vilela.

New this year, the Milwaukee Tennis Classic has partnered with the ITA to make this an "ITA Gold Level Event." The event will provide the men's and women's singles champions with wildcards into the 2017 Oracle ITA National Fall Championships, which takes place November 1-5, at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden (Calif.) and other resort locations.

The 42nd MTC tournament will feature a draw of 32 for men's singles, 32 for women's singles and 16 for men's and women's doubles.

Play will commence on Thursday morning at 8:00 a.m. (CT) with qualifying matches for the singles main draw followed by round of 16 doubles play around 4:45 p.m. The round of 32 singles draw will begin at 8:00 a.m. on Friday and continue onto Saturday for a 9:00 a.m. start that signals the start of quarter and semifinal play.

The MTC finals will be played in the 10,000-seat UWM Panther Arena in downtown Milwaukee which hosted the 1998 Davis Cup World Semi-Final between the U.S. and Italy, drawing a total of 18,000 people over three days. The men's singles final will take place at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday, while the doubles final concludes the Classic and takes place at 2:00 p.m.

Fall Ball
Wisconsin had quite a successful outing at the Harvard Chowder Fest to start the fall season. Badger senior Josef Dodridge was named the tournament singles champion, while also helping fellow senior Chema Carranza take home the hardware in the doubles category.

Dodridge finished off 3-0 weekend on Sunday with a win over Notre Dame's Guillermo Ciamarra, 2-6, 6-2, 6-4, coming behind from a down a set.

Dodridge's impact was also felt in doubles play where he and Carranza won the doubles championship after the two knocked off Harvard's Kenny Tao and Lucas Koelle, 8-3. Carranza also teamed up with freshman Martim Vilela to earned a win over a Notre Dame duo, 6-3. Dodridge paired up with sophomore Daniel Soyfer to beat a Harvard pair, 7-5.
On top of Wisconsin's individual accolades in the first tournament of the season, the Badgers have also racked up an impressive team record. UW sits at a 19-11 singles record and a 13-4 doubles record in the fall.

A LOOK BACK AT 2016-17
The Badgers enjoyed one of their finest seasons in recent history in head coach Danny Westerman's second year at the helm. Wisconsin finished the 2016-17 campaign with an 18-8 (7-4 in Big Ten play) record, ranked No. 28 in the ITA national poll and danced in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2010.

Wisconsin not only showed up, but advanced in the NCAA tournament with a win over San Diego, 4-1. It was the fifth NCAA tournament win in school history.

In addition to the team's wild success, individuals Lamar Remy and Josef Dodridge were both awarded with All-Big Ten honors. Remy snagged first-team honors – the first such honor for a Badger since 2011 – while Dodridge was named second-team.

The top two Badgers weren't the only ones to flourish. All six Wisconsin starters tallied 20-win seasons, a feat that hadn't been replicated by a single Badger since 2010.

A key piece of the Badgers success came in the doubles category. Wisconsin gained the doubles point an impressive 21 of 26 matches in the 2016 season.

WHO RETURNS?
Wisconsin returns all six singles starters from a year ago and returns eight of its 10 letterwinners from the 2016-17 season. Among UW's notable returners are…

Josef Dodridge:
Senior Josef Dodridge begins the season ranked No. 92 in the Oracle ITA preseason rankings. Playing at No. 1 and No. 2 last season, Dodridge tallied an impressive 24-18 singles record. He also played No. 1 doubles with partner Chema Carranza, going 18-11 overall and 7-2 in the Big Ten. Dodridge earned a career day against Minnesota a season ago, clinching the match for the Badgers in a tight 3-3 situation. The junior was awarded the Big Ten Player of the Week for his stellar performance. He added a ranked win to his ledger with a 6-2, 6-2 defeat of No. 53 Konrad Zieba of Northwestern.

Chema Carranza:
Senior Chema Carranza sat atop all Badgers in singles with a stifling 28-12 mark in the 2016-17 season, the most by a Badger since Moritz Bauman tallied a record of 31-8 in 2010. A native of Montequinto, Spain, he played mostly No. 3 singles for the Badgers in 2016-17. Named a co-captain for 2017-18, Carranza also earned a 25-11 record in the doubles category, the best win percentage for the Badger squad. He and Josef Dodridge went 7-2 together during Big Ten action.

Lamar Remy:
Wisconsin's captain and No. 1 singles player in most matches, Lamar Remy opens the season ranked No. 115 in the Oracle ITA preseason rankings. The senior tallied a 23-15 record for UW in 2016-17. Remy recorded his biggest win of the season when he topped 93rd-ranked Filip Vittek of San Diego during the first round of the NCAA tournament. In addition to his singles success, Remy made his impact felt in the doubles category, accumulating a 26-11 record on the season. With partner Chase Colton, Remy posted a 9-1 mark in Big Ten doubles action.

Osgar O'Hoisin:
Junior Osgar O'Hoisin returns after a successful season playing No. 3 or 4 position in the Badgers lineup in 2016-17. O'Hoisin managed a 25-16 record a season ago, including a team-best 8-3 mark in Big Ten play. In doubles, the Dublin, Ireland, native tallied a 21-16 mark.

Daniel Soyfer:
Sophomore Daniel Soyfer just kept on winning in his first season with the Cardinal and White. Soyfer had an outstanding 26-11 singles record at the No. 5 and 6 spots, owning the most wins by a UW freshman since at least 1990. Soyfer claimed the clinching win in the Badgers' NCAA tournament victory over San Diego, when he dispatched Alex Araouzos, 6-1, 4-6, 6-1.

Chase Colton:
Sophomore Chase Colton held a 22-20 singles record in the 2016-17 season. On top of the 20+ win season as only a freshman, Colton starred on the doubles court, earning a team-best 31-10 record on the year, including a mark of 9-1 in the Big Ten with partner Lamar Remy.