After an up-and-down regular season, the Wisconsin men’s tennis team heads to Columbus, Ohio, this weekend for the Big Ten conference tournament.
In their first round matchup, the eighth-seeded Badgers will look to extend their season against ninth-seeded Purdue for the right to play top-seeded Ohio State in the second round.
Wisconsin (4-7 Big Ten, 13-11 overall) and Purdue (3-8, 16-11) will play the first of four opening round meets on Thursday at Ohio State’s Varsity Tennis Courts.
On April 12, these two teams met at Nielsen Tennis Stadium and played a thrilling meet that was ultimately won by Wisconsin, 4-3.
The Badgers had been down 3-0 in that matchup, but captured the next four decisions to defeat the Boilermakers. The victory ended UW’s atrocious seven-meet losing streak that had lasted nearly a full month.
Head coach Greg Van Emburgh said in order to beat Purdue again, the team needs to come ready to play.
“We just gotta come out and execute, be real determined, and play confident,” he said.
Should the Badgers advance to the second round, the Buckeyes will provide a truly formidable challenge. Ohio State claimed its eighth-consecutive Big Ten title by going undefeated in conference play and posting a 28-2 overall record.
The Buckeyes are ranked No. 4 in the nation in the most recent poll, with Wisconsin coming at No. 59. On April 5, Ohio State obliterated the Badgers, 7-0, in Columbus. UW failed to win a set.
Taking a look at the tourney bracket, the conference’s top four seeds—Ohio State, Minnesota, Michigan and Illinois, respectively—earned a first-round bye and hence will not play until Friday.
In Thursday’s first round, the matchups are as follows: No. 8 Wisconsin vs. No. 9 Purdue; No. 5 Northwestern vs. No. 12 Iowa; No. 7 Michigan State vs. No. 10 Nebraska; and No. 6 Indiana vs. No. 11 Penn State.
The championship match is scheduled for noon EST Sunday. Big Ten Network will televise the championship after a lengthy delay Monday, May 6, at 7 p.m. EST.
