MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin men’s tennis team is back on the road after a perfect weekend at Nielsen, defeating Western Michigan, 7-0, and Yale, 4-2. The Badgers (5-1) travel to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, for a road match against the Crimson Tide (6-1) on Friday at 4 p.m. On Sunday, UW takes on Auburn (5-2) on Sunday at noon in Auburn, Alabama.
Here are five things you should know before this weekend:
1. STARTING STRONG: The Badgers’ 5-1 start is their best record since the 2019-20 season that was upended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, the team went 8-1 through their first nine matches before losing five straight before the season got canceled. This year’s Wisconsin team has put itself in a good position to improve on last year’s record of 12-10, with five impressive and gritty wins so far, including two sweeps. Their only loss was a very close 4-3 heartbreaker to Old Dominion on the road.
2. HAPPY HILDEBRANDT: Graduate transfer Jason Hildebrandt played an integral role in both Badgers wins this past weekend. He had a perfect weekend, going 2-0 in singles and 2-0 in doubles play. Against Western Michigan, he and partner Jared Pratt secured the doubles point with an impressive tiebreaker win, 7-6 (7-0), before going on to secure the second singles win of the evening in a quick two-set match. Against Yale, Hildebrandt was part of the only Badger duo that won their doubles match and then later put the first Wisconsin point on the board to get things rolling for the Badgers with another quick two-set win, 6-3, 6-1, in singles.
3. KNOW YOUR OPPONENTS: The Alabama Crimson Tide are 6-1 on the season, four of their wins being 7-0 sweeps. Their only loss came at the hands of No. 19 Columbia last weekend where they weren’t able to secure a single point, losing 7-0. Alabama holds two of the top singles players in the nation according to the last ITA rankings: No. 35 Enzo Aguiard, a sophomore, and No. 96 Roan Jones, a freshman.
The Auburn Tigers are 5-2 so far this season, with their only two losses being to ranked opponents. They lost 4-0 to No. 10 Wake Forest and 4-0 to No. 19 Duke. The Tigers’ five wins include a victory over Big Ten foe Michigan State, 4-3, and a 5-2 win over Georgia Tech. Auburn also holds two ranked singles players on their roster: No. 66 Tyler Stice and No. 110 Will Nolan. Last season, the…
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