Wisconsin Tennis Drops Deciding Rally at Middle Tennessee State

Wisconsin men's tennis remained winless on the road after losing the deciding singles match to Middle Tennessee State on Saturday. The Badgers traveled to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and dropped the tiebreaker rally 7-5, 1-6, 5-7, ending a close contest that they had led earlier in the afternoon. This result leaves the team with an overall record of 6-6 and a Big Ten mark of 0-1. The loss also extends the program's road losing streak, as Wisconsin has not won away from Nielsen Tennis Center this season.

The weekend began with a dominant home performance against Pennsylvania. Wisconsin had never defeated the Quakers in program history, with last year's meeting resulting in a 4-3 loss. On Friday, the Badgers reversed that history by winning 6-1. The team took the doubles point early, with senior Josef Dodridge and junior Osgar O'Hoisin winning 6-1 to remain unbeaten as a pair. Sophomores Daniel Soyfer and Chase Colton added a 6-2 victory to complete the doubles score.

Wisconsin won four of the five singles matches against Penn. Colton, Soyfer, and Dodridge all won in straight sets, while freshman Jesper Freimuth took his match 6-2, 6-3. O'Hoisin required three sets to finish the job, winning 7-5, 4-6, 10-2. This victory provided a strong foundation before the team traveled to face the Blue Raiders, who entered the match with a 10-2 record and a perfect home slate, having shut out five opponents at home.

At Middle Tennessee State, Wisconsin started strong by capturing the doubles point. Dodridge and O'Hoisin defeated Chris Edge and Tom Moonen 6-4, while senior Chema Carranza and Freimuth beat Glan Issa and Jan Porteset 6-2. Soyfer kept the momentum going in singles, winning 6-4, 6-3 to improve his personal record to 10-0 for the season. However, Middle Tennessee State responded by winning the next three singles matches to take a 3-2 lead.

Dodridge tied the match at 3-3 with a 7-6, 6-1 victory. The result hinged on the final match between Carranza and Moonen. Carranza lost the first set in a tiebreak but bounced back to win the second set 6-1. In the deciding set, Carranza held a 5-4 lead. Moonen saved a match point and closed out the set 7-5, securing the win for the Blue Raiders. Head coach Danny Westerman acknowledged the difficulty of the loss, stating, "This one stings. We need to keep working. We put ourselves in these situations so we can eventually get over the hump."

Wisconsin will return to Nielsen Tennis Center next weekend for a Sunday doubleheader against Cornell and UW-Green Bay. The team looks to break its road losing streak in the coming weeks, though the immediate focus shifts to the upcoming home matches.