Wisconsin Badgers
Northwestern University
Badgers Prepare for the 2024 Big Ten Tournament
April 22, 2024 | Men's Tennis
Badgers seeded tenth ahead of conference tournament
EVANSTON, Ill. — The Wisconsin men's tennis team (1-21, 0-9 B1G) enters postseason play as it takes on No. 7-seeded Northwestern (9-17, 3-6 B1G) on Thursday, Apr. 25. First serve will take place at 2 p.m. from the Vandy Christie Tennis Center and all matches of the tournament will be streamed live on B1G+
Here are five things you should know before Wisconsin faces Northwestern:
1. BADGERS' B1G TOURNAMENT HISTORY: The Badgers have participated in the Big Ten Tournament since 1934, and will play Northwestern for the eighth time in Big Ten Tournament history. The Badgers are 2-5 against the Wildcats, with their most recent matchup coming last year in the second round of the conference tournament. After earning a bye, the No. 6-seeded Badgers faced the No. 3-seeded Wildcats in Bloomington, Ind. Wisconsin took the doubles point, but one just one singles match, thus losing 4-1. In the last three seasons, the Badgers have finished in the tournament tied for sixth, tied for fifth, and then tied for ninth in 2021.
2. SCOUTING THE WILDCATS: The Northwestern Wildcats finished the season ranked No. 67 in the ITA polls, and enter the 2024 Big Ten Tournament seeded seventh out of ten teams. The team finished the regular season with a 9-17 overall record, and 3-6 in conference play. In the Big Ten, Northwestern defeated Penn State, 4-2, Wisconsin, 5-2, and most recently Purdue, 5-2, which earned them the seven seed rather than the eight seed. Northwestern has two ranked doubles pairs, with Felix Nordby/Gleb Blekher ranked No. 53. The Badgers and Wildcats last met on Apr. 5 in Madison, with Northwestern taking the victory, 5-2. Wisconsin took the doubles point, with Gabriel Huber/Michael Minasyan defeating No. 48-ranked Felix Nordby/Gleb Blekher 6-3 at No. 1 doubles, and Collin Beduhn/Matthew Fullerton defeating Chad Miller/Saiprakash Goli 6-3 in match No. 3. In singles play, Tomas Zlatohlavek defeated Greyson Casey, 6-3, 6-3, at match No. 5 for the Badgers' lone singles win of the day.
3. LAST SERVE: In Wisconsin's last time out, the team competed against the No. 1-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes in its final regular-season match of the season. The Badgers celebrated their three seniors ahead of the match, Jason Hildebrandt, Gabriel Huber, and Mihailo Popovic, and then it was time for the match to commence. The Wisconsin bench was shorthanded, causing them to forfeit the No. 3 doubles match and No. 5 and 6 singles matches. The Buckeyes demonstrated why they were ranked the top team in the country, and came out with an impressive 6-0 victory over Gabriel Huber/Michael Minasyan to take the doubles point. Heading into singles play, Ohio State played four ranked singles players against Wisconsin and finished with a victory in all matches.
4. FOLLOW THE ACTION: Live updates on the Badgers can be found on X (@BadgerMTennis) and Instagram (@wisconsintennis), while live scoring is located HERE, while live streaming will be on B1G+.
5. UP NEXT: If the Badgers take down the Wildcats, Wisconsin would play No. 2 seeded Michigan. The match would take place Friday, Apr. 26 at 1:30 p.m. from the Vandy Christie Tennis Center in Evanston, Ill.
Players Mentioned
