Wisconsin Badgers
Yale
Badgers commence six-match roadtrip
February 28, 2024 | Men's Tennis
Wisconsin set to face Yale and Princeton
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — The Wisconsin men's tennis team (1-9, 0-0 B1G) heads to the East Coast to play Yale (6-3, 0-0 Ivy) on Friday, March 1 at 5 p.m., followed by Princeton (11-4, 0-0 Ivy) on Sunday, March 3 at 1 p.m. The first match will be played inside the Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center in New Haven, Conn., followed by a match inside Jadwin Gymnasium in Princeton, N.J.
Here are five things you should know before Wisconsin faces its Ivy League opponents:
1. SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS: The Yale Bulldogs are 6-3 to begin their season but are coming off back-to-back 3-4 losses to Princeton and then Cornell at the ECAC Indoor Championships. Despite its recent defeats, Yale is ranked 70th in the nation, and boasts the No. 50 doubles pair in the nation, with Aidan Reilly and Theo Dean. The Badgers got a small preview of Yale back in late September when Collin Beduhn and Tomas Zlatohlavek each played singles matches against some Bulldogs at the Milwaukee Tennis Classic. The last duals match between the two programs was on feb. 5, 2023 when Wisconsin defeated Yale, 4-2, inside Nielsen Tennis Stadium. While UW did not claim the doubles point, it won five of six singles matches with Gabriel Huber ultimately clinching the win with a 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 win over Luke Neal at No. 3 singles.
2. SCOUTING THE TIGERS: The Princeton Tigers are 11-4 this season and are coming off six-straight wins. The Tigers last played in the Blue Gray National Tennis Classic on Feb. 23 and 24, and defeated No. 47 Old Dominion, 4-0, No. 18 Alabama, 4-3, and No. 16 Michigan State, 4-0. Princeton's Paul Inchauspe is ranked No. 62 in the nation, and holds an 18-7 record this season. The last time Wisconsin and Princeton played one another was Jan. 21, 2023 inside Nielsen Tennis Stadium where the Badgers claimed a 4-3 victory. After dropping the first set, 6-1, Mihailo Popovic rallied back to force a third set and clinched the win for UW in dramatic fashion, a 1-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-2) victory against Will Peters at the No. 2 match.
3. LAST SERVE: In Wisconsin's last time out on the court on Feb. 23 and 25, Wisconsin went 1-1, defeating Butler, 5-2 before falling to No. 32 Denver, 1-6. The match against the Bulldogs marked the return of Mihailo Popovic and Gabriel Huber, both of whom won their respective matches. Popovic played alongside Collin Beduhn at No. 3 doubles and the pair won 6-3, but Wisconsin ultimately dropped the doubles point. The team came back with a vengeance during singles play, as Wisconsin took five of the six singles matches in straight sets. In his first match of the spring season, Huber claimed a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Rahulniket Konakanchi at No. 4 match. Sunday's match against the Pioneers was a tough matchup for the Badgers, but the highlight was Matthew Fullerton who claimed a 6-4, 7-5 victory against Peter Sallay in the No. 4 match, marking his first singles victory of the season.
4. FOLLOW THE ACTION: Live updates on the Badgers can be found on X (@BadgerMTennis) and Instagram (@wisconsintennis), while live streaming is HERE for Yale and HERE for Princeton.
5. UP NEXT: Wisconsin resumes its road trip with a match against SMU on Saturday, March 16. First serve will be at noon from the Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex in Dallas, Texas.
Players Mentioned
