MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin men's tennis team (0-4, 0-0 B1G) returned to Nielsen Tennis Stadium to face Old Dominion (3-0, 0-0 Sun Belt) on Friday Jan. 26. The Badgers lost to Old Dominion 5-2. Wisconsin was down three players, including their top-ranked singles player Mihailo Popovic, ultimately forcing the team to forfeit both a doubles and singles match. 

Without a third doubles team to face Old Dominion, Wisconsin needed to win both of the remaining matches in order to claim the doubles point. At No. 1 doubles, the freshman duo of Oliver Olsson and Tomas Zlatohlavek took on formidable opponents, the ITA Preseason No. 6 doubles pair of Codie van Schalkwyk and Connor van Schalkwyk. They kept the match close and battled hard, but the match ultimately went unfinished, with Wisconsin trailing 5-4 in the end. On the other court, Michael Minasyan and Matthew Fullerton partnered up for the first time this season to take on Cosme Rolland De Ravel and Jakob Cadonau. Old Dominion's No. 2 doubles pair was ranked No. 33 in the ITA preseason poll, and ended up taking the match, 6-3. With the Badgers' forfeit and the one loss, the Monarchs took the doubles point and headed into singles play up 1-0.

Without a third doubles team to face Old Dominion, Wisconsin needed to win both of the remaining matches in order to claim the doubles point. At No. 1 doubles, the freshman duo of Oliver Olsson and Tomas Zlatohlavek took on formidable opponents, the ITA Preseason No. 6 doubles pair of Codie van Schalkwyk and Connor van Schalkwyk. They kept the match close and battled hard, but the match ultimately went unfinished, with Wisconsin trailing 5-4 in the end. On the other court, Michael Minasyan and Matthew Fullerton partnered up for the first time this season to take on Cosme Rolland De Ravel and Jakob Cadonau. Old Dominion's No. 2 doubles pair was ranked No. 33 in the ITA preseason poll, and ended up taking the match, 6-3. With the Badgers' forfeit and the one loss, the Monarchs took the doubles point and headed into singles play up 1-0.

Forfeiting the No. 6 singles match put the Badgers down 2-0, a sharp deficit for the team to overcome. Tomas Zlatohlavek's match at No. 3 finished first, with his opponent Yanis Moundir claiming a 6-2, 6-1 victory. This was followed by Collin Beduhn's match at No. 4 singles, who dropped the match, 6-4, 6-1, to Yanis Moundir, ultimately giving Old Dominion the fourth and final point it needed to take the match.

The two teams continued to play, with Matthew Fullerton falling to Connor van Schalkwyk, 7-5, 6-3 at No. 2 singles, and then Oliver Olsson taking the victory at No. 5 doubles against Aryan Saleh, 2-6, 6-2 (10-7). The final match was between Michael Minasyan and Codie van Schalkwyk at No. 1, and went into a tiebreak similar to Olsson's match. Eventually, Minasyan edged out Codie van Schalkwyk, 6-2, 4-6 (11-9)  to finish off the night.
 

Old Dominion University 5,  University of Wisconsin 2

Singles Results

1. Michael Minasyan (UW) vs. Codie van Schalkwyk (ODU) 6-2, 4-6 (11-9)
2. Connor van Schalkwyk (ODU) def. Matthew Fullerton (UW) 7-5, 6-3
3. Cosme Rolland De Ravel (ODU) def. Tomas Zlatohlavek (UW) 6-2, 6-1
4. Yanis Moundir (ODU) def. Collin Beduhn (UW) 6-4, 6-1
5. Oliver Olsson (UW) def. Aryan Saleh (ODU) 2-6, 6-2 (10-7)
6. Jakob Cadonau (ODU) def "no player" (UW), win by foreit

Doubles Results

1. Codie van Schalkwyk/Connor van Schalkwyk (ODU) def. Oliver Olsson/Tomas Zlatohlavek (UW) 5-4, uf
2. Cosme Rolland De Ravel/Jakob Cadonau (ODU) def. Michael Minasyan/Matthew Fullerton (UW) 6-3
3. Yanis Moundir/Maxime Mareschal-Hay (ODU) def "no team" (UW), win by forfeit

Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (6,3,4,2,5,1)

Up Next: In just one week, the Badgers return to Nielsen Tennis Stadium to face Washington on Friday, Feb. 2 and Oregon on Sunday, Feb. 4. First serve is set for 5:30 p.m. on Friday followed by 11 a.m on Sunday in Madison.