MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin men's tennis team (1-17, 0-5 B1G) heads to Indiana for its last weekend of road matches this season. Wisconsin is set to face Purdue (6-12, 1-4 B1G) on Friday,Apr. 5 at 3 p.m. in the Schwartz Tennis Center followed by a match against No. 69 Indiana (13-8, 2-3) on Sunday, Apr. 14 at 11 a.m in the IU Tennis Center
Here are five things you should know before Wisconsin faces Purdue and Indiana:
1. SCOUTING THE BOILERMAKERS: The Purdue Boilermakers are 6-12 overall and 1-4 in the Big Ten, placing them at eighth in the conference. The team's sole Big Ten win came against Penn State back on Mar. 31, as the Boilermakers took down the Nittany Lions in dominant fashion with a 6-1 victory. Since then, Purdue has lost its last two matches, falling 2-5 to No. 16 Michigan State in East Lansing and 0-4 to No. 26 Michigan in Ann Arbor. Wisconsin and Purdue last met Apr. 7, 2023 as the Badgers came out with a 6-1 win in Madison. Playing its first outdoor match at Nielsen that season, Wisconsin took the doubles point, with No. 56 Gabriel Huber/Michael Minasyan and Robin Parts/Sebastian Vile each securing 6-4 wins. Following doubles play, Wisconsin won all but one singles match, all in straight sets. Michael Minasyan collected his 11th singles win of the season, defeating Tomasz Dudek, 6-2, 6-3 while Huber earned his 10th win from a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Milledge Cossu.Â
2. SCOUTING THE HOOSIERS: No. 69 Indiana is 13-8 this season, with a 2-3 recording the Big Ten. The Hoosiers occupy fifth place in the conference standings, with a 4-2 victory against Purdue on Mar. 23 and a 5-2 vs. Penn State on Mar. 29. Since defeating the Nittany Lions, the Hoosiers have entered into a three-match losing streak, dropping matches to No. 1 Ohio State, 0-7, No. 36 Michigan, 1-6. And No. 16 Michigan State, 0-7. The Hoosiers have one ranked singles player and one ranked doubles pair on their team. Sam Landau ranks No. 74 in the nation with a 17-6 overall record while the doubles pair of Michael Andre/Ilya Tiraspolsky rank at No. 64 with a 14-5 record thus far. Last season, the Badgers and Hoosiers met in Madison and Wisconsin won 6-1, collecting its second victory of the weekend. UW initiated the match by outlasting the Hoosiers in doubles, with Jared Pratt/Jason Hildrebradnt winning 6-3 in the No. 2 match and Robin Parts/Sebastien Vile taking the No. 3 match, 7-6 (7-4). Moving onto singles play, while Wisconsin took five of the six singles matches, play was competitive, with four matches entering a third set.Â
3. LAST SERVE: Wisconsin's last time out, the team played some of its best tennis of the season against No. 26-ranked Illinois. Despite falling 4-1, the Badgers made Illinois work for every singles point and forced multiple tie breaks and third sets. After Collin Beduhn won with a commanding 6-0, 6-3 final score, Tomas Zlatohlavek, Gabriel Huber and Michael Minasyan all partook in third sets, while Jason Hildebrandt entered a seven-point tiebreak at the conclusion of each set. After what has been a difficult season for the Badgers, this match represented the growth that this young team has experienced and the tenacity they play with each and every match.Â
4. FOLLOW THE ACTION: Live updates on the Badgers can be found on X (@BadgerMTennis) and Instagram (@wisconsintennis. Live streaming vs.Purdue is HERE and live stats are located HERE. For Indiana, live streaming is HERE and live stats are HERE.Â
5. UP NEXT: The Badgers return to Madison for its final weekend of regular-season tennis. Wisconsin will face Penn State Friday, Apr. 19 at 4 p.m. followed by No. 1 Ohio State on Sunday, Apr. 21 at 12 p.m. Both matches will be played at Nielsen Tennis Center.