WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Purdue men’s tennis team looks to dive head first into the conference slate as they welcome No. 22 Illinois and No. 24 Northwestern to West Lafayette this weekend.
Fresh off a victory against the Butler Bulldogs, the Boilers closed their non-conference slate with a 4-3 victory in the first outdoor match of the season. The Boilermakers clinched the victory with all four points in singles play at No. 2, 3, 4, and 6. The victory came out of gritty effort in the first set as three Boilermakers gained the advantage in tiebreak fashion.
The Boilers split the weekend after dropping their first conference match to No. 72 Indiana. While Purdue couldn’t notch its first Big Ten team victory, doubles team Daniel Labrador/Tomasz Dudek had a career day on the court. The pair confidently defeated ITA’s No. 70 pair Patrick Fletchall/Ilya Tiraspolsky by handing them a 6-3 defeat, just their second loss of the spring. The victory was the Boilermakers first career win over a nationally ranked doubles opponent.
Purdue will need to remain focused if they want to keep the good times rolling, as they slated to take on the No. 22 Illinois Fighting Illini and No. 24 Northwestern Wildcats in their first full weekend of Big Ten play.
Illinois travels to West Lafayette with 13-8 record, but they are a battle tested team having played four of the nations Top 10 teams. In addition to being a well-rounded team, the Illini have individual accolades to boast about. Two of their players are ranked in singles with Karlis Ozolins at No. 33 and Alex Petrov at No. 115, and their top two doubles teams also occupy spots in the ITA Top 80 (No. 49 and 56). The Boilers will have their hands full with the Fighting Illini but with a 1-5 road record, Purdue has a chance to use home court to their advantage.
The Northwestern Wildcats have a ranked asset in both categories with Steven Forman at No. 54 singles and Simen Bratholm/Ivan Yatsuk at No. 55 in doubles. The Wildcats are 12-7 and have won two of their last four matches, and have swept No. 63 Penn State and Chicago State in consecutive wins before their match against Purdue.
If weather permits, the Boilers will look to continue their win streak on the outdoor courts this weekend. In the event of outdoor matches, live stats and video will be unavailable. The best way to…
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