Michigan Advances to Quarterfinals of ITA Indoors with Win Over No. 17 Stanford

Michigan Advances to Quarterfinals of ITA Indoors with Win Over No. 17 Stanford

Site: Chicago, Ill. (XS Tennis Village)

Score: #4 Michigan 4, #17 Stanford 2

Records: U-M (11-0), Stanford (6-3)

Next U-M Event: Saturday, Feb. 18 — vs. #5 Virginia – ITA National Team Indoor Championship quarterfinals (Chicago, Ill.), 3:30 p.m. CST

CHICAGO, Ill. — The No. 4-ranked University of Michigan men’s tennis team survived a scare from No. 17 Stanford in the opening round of the ITA National Team Indoor Championship but advanced to the quarterfinals with a 4-2 victory on Friday (Feb. 17) at the XS Tennis Village.

The Wolverines dropped the doubles point for just the second time this season as the Cardinal took a surprising 1-0 lead into singles play. Patrick Maloney and Ondrej Styler posted the lone U-M win, a 6-3 match over Samir Banerjee and Neel Rajesh. The Michigan duo is now 7-1 in dual play.

Styler and Maloney stayed hot as they each won their respective singles matches to give Michigan a 2-1 lead. No. 20-ranked Styler improved to 7-1 in dual play with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Banerjee at No. 3, and No. 42-ranked Maloney collected his seventh consecutive win, taking down No. 4 Max Basing 6-4, 6-3 at No. 2.

The Cardinal evened things at 2-2 as No. 43-ranked Arthur Fery ended Andrew Fenty‘s six-match win streak with 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) scores at No. 1.

Gavin Young responded with a huge win as he took down No. 2 Nishesh Basavareddy, who won the ITA Singles Championship in November. Young staked his claim to No. 4 with his seventh straight win to stay unbeaten in dual play, 7-6 (4), 6-2.

Jacob Bickersteth and Will Cooksey were both heading into third sets at Nos. 5 and 6, respectively.

Cooksey captured the match for Michigan with a 6-4 win over Filip Kolasinksi in the third set. It was a tremendous recovery after going down 6-3 in the first to take a 7-6 (3) second set to force a third.

Bickersteth, who won a 7-6 (2) first set, was ahead 5-2 in the third before the match was called.

The Wolverines will face Virginia in the quarterfinals on Saturday (Feb. 18) at 3:30 p.m. CST inside the XS Tennis Village in Chicago.

Following are match-by-match results

Singles

No. 1 – No. 43 Arthur Fery (STAN) d. No. 7 Andrew Fenty (U-M), 6-4,…