In a two-game weekend home stand against Michigan State and Michigan, the Badgers could not break out of their prolonged cold spell, losing both matches 4-3.
No. 74 Wisconsin (1-8 Big Ten, 9-13 overall) came into the weekend having lost four straight matches and seven of its last eight. All of the Badgers’ eight previous matches were against ranked opponents.
Wisconsin began the weekend Friday night against unranked Michigan State (3-6, 9-13). The Spartans were also stuck in a late season rough patch with five losses in their last seven matches.
Michigan State swept the doubles round and won the first two singles matches to take an early 3-0 lead. From there, Wisconsin senior Petr Satral and junior Michael Sinha captured victories at the No. 1 and No. 5 singles spots to tighten the score to 3-2.
In a closely contested match at No. 3, the Spartans pulled off a 7-6 (6), 7-5 win to clinch victory and put an end to the Badgers’ comeback attempt.
On Sunday, No. 50 Michigan (4-5, 12-11) made quick work of the Badgers. The Wolverines won the doubles point and the first three singles matches to earn the win. Wisconsin sophomore Alexander Kokorev, sophomore Jakhongir Jalalov and Sinha won the last three singles matches of the day to narrow the final tally to 4-3.
This weekend marked the end of the Badgers’ home schedule. Wisconsin finished 9-5 at Nielsen Tennis Stadium but has yet to win on the road.
“Overall the Big Ten conference is so strong,” said head coach Greg Van Emburgh. “We want to stay positive and confident and utilize the opportunities we have when we’re in the position to.”
Wisconsin began the season 8-4 and reached No. 49 in the rankings released March 4 before the team’s struggles began. The Badgers have been without their No. 1 singles player, sophomore Oskar Wikberg, for the last three matches due to an ankle injury.
Wisconsin finishes off the regular season next weekend with a trip south to face Northwestern and Illinois before the Big Ten tournament begins April 24.
UWBadgers.com contributed to this report.
