MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin men's tennis team battled until the end before ultimately falling 4-3 to Iowa on Friday at Nielsen Tennis Stadium.
The Badgers (4-12, 4-11 Big Ten) were off to a strong start in doubles. The German duo of
Lenard Soha and
Jesper Freimuth locked in their seventh win this season with a 6-4 victory over Iowa's Oliver Okonkwo and Joe Tyler at the second position. At No. 3 doubles, it was the UW freshman duo of
Tim Dzhurinskiy and
Mihailo Popovic scoring a 6-3 win over Nikita Snezhko and Rudra Dixit to secure the doubles point for the Badgers.
In singles, Freimuth battled back from a 5-1 deficit in the third set to force a tiebreaker in which Will Davies ultimately emerged with 7-5 edge to complete a 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 win and clinch the match for Iowa. Krill and Popovic locked in straight-set victories for the Badgers. Popovic defeated Snezhko 6-2, 6-4 at No. 5 singles while Krill followed with his 6-4, 6-2 victory at the sixth position.
Up Next:
Wisconsin concludes the regular season at noon Sunday by taking on Nebraska at Nielsen Tennis Stadium.
Iowa 4, Wisconsin 3
Doubles Results
1. Kareem Allaf/Will Davies (UI) def.
Jared Pratt/
Robin Parts (WIS) 6-3
2.
Lenard Soha/
Jesper Freimuth (WIS) def. Oliver Okonkwo/Joe Tyler (UI) 6-4
3.
Tim Dzhurinskiy/
Mihailo Popovic (WIS) def. Nikita Snezhko/Rudra Dixit (UI) 6-3
Singles Results
1. Kareem Allaf (UI) def.
Jared Pratt (WIS) 1-6, 6-1, 6-3
2. Oliver Okonkwo (UI) def.
Lenard Soha (WIS) 7-6 (7-3), 7-5
3. Joe Tyler (UI) def.
Robin Parts (WIS) 6-4, 6-2
4. Will Davies (UI) def.
Jesper Freimuth (WIS) 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5)
5.
Mihailo Popovic (WIS) def. Nikita Snezhko (UI) 6-2, 6-4
6.
Robert Krill (WIS) def. Jason Kerst (UI) 6-4, 6-2
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (3,5,1,6,2,4)