CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The Wisconsin men’s tennis team continued its fall season tour last weekend with an impressive showing at the ITA Regional Championships at the University of Illinois.
In doubles, the new pair consisting of junior Gabriel Huber and freshman Michael Minasyan paved their way to the finals and are traveling back to Madison with some hardware in hand. The duo knocked off the No. 5-seeded Northwestern duo of Simen Bratholm and Ivan Yatsuk, 5-7, 7-6 (5), 10-0, to advance to the finals and compete against a Michigan duo that was part of last year’s Big Ten Championship team, No.3-seeded Andrew Fenty and Gavin Young.
Huber and Minasyan pulled off the upset in an impressive two-set match. After dominating the first set 6-2, the Badgers won three straight games to tie up the second set at 5-5. Each team took another game, forcing a second-set tiebreaker. Wisconsin’s five straight points were too much for the Wolverine’s to overcome, earning Huber and Minasyan the title of ITA Midwest Regional Champions by a score of 6-2, 7-6 (4).
This marks only the second time in ITA Regionals history the Badgers have accomplished this feat, the last time being in 2017 when Chema Carranza and Josef Dodridge defeated the Michigan duo of Alex Knight and Runhao Hua 5-7, 6-3, 12-10. The finals appearance earned the pair a qualifying bid for the ITA Fall National Championships in San Diego, taking place Nov. 2-6.
Huber and Minasyan were not the only Badgers that gained success during the tournament. Over the course of four days, Badgers were able to make their mark, earning 14 total wins as a team.
Sophomore Mihailo Popvic and senior Jared Pratt led the way in singles, both making it to the round of 16.
Up Next
The team splits its travels to the ITA Fall National Championships in San Diego, Nov. 2-6, and the Big Ten Individual Championships, Nov. 4-6.
ITA Midwest Regionals
Champaign, Ill.
Oct. 20-24
SINGLES RESULTS
Round of 64
Hugo Hidalgo Vega (Chicago State) def. Michael Minsayan (Wisconsin) 6-2, 6-2
Jared Pratt (Wisconsin) def. Cheng En Tsai (Northern Illinois) 5-7, 6-4, 6-4
Mihailo Popovic (Wisconsin) def. Evan Lee (Notre Dame) 6-2, 7-5
Ivan Yatsuk (Northwestern) def. Robin Parts (Wisconsin) 6-4, 7-6(5)
Sebastian Vile (Wisconsin) def. Stefan Dragovic (Marquette) 7-6 (3), 6-2
Gabriel…
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