Michigan Pushes Past Louisville in Return to Varsity Tennis Center

Michigan Pushes Past Louisville in Return to Varsity Tennis Center

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Varsity Tennis Center)

Score: #5 Michigan 4, Louisville 3

Records: U-M (17-2), UL (12-9)

Next U-M Event: Friday, April 7 — vs. Penn State (Varsity Tennis Center), 4 p.m.

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The No. 5-ranked University of Michigan men’s tennis team dug deep to push past Louisville 4-3 on Sunday (April 2) in the team’s first match at the Varsity Tennis Center in more than a month.

Down 1-0 after the doubles point, Michigan won four of six first sets in singles but suddenly found itself in trouble as three matches were pushed to third sets.

Nino Ehrenschneider put the Wolverines on the board with his first match and first win at No. 4 singles, defeating Sergio Hernandez 6-1, 7-6 (4). After a quick first set, Ehrenschneider fell behind in the second, but never trailed by more than one game. They traded games to 6-6 before the tiebreaker. Ehrenschneider grabbed a 3-1 edge, but Hernandez fought back to make it 3-3. The tide turned again as Ehrenschneider won four of the next five points to win the tiebreaker 7-4.

No. 10-ranked Andrew Fenty put Michigan on top 2-1 with his fifth straight singles decision. With a 6-1, 7-6 (5) win over No. 76 Natan Rodrigues, Fenty improves to 26-7 in his career when he faces a ranked opponent.

Jacob Bickersteth rallied from dropping his first set 6-3 at No. 5 singles to grab matching 6-1 victories over Matthew Fung — his third straight singles win — as he pushed Michigan ahead 3-1.

No. 31 Etienne Donnet handed No. 23 Patrick Maloney his first loss of the season in a three-set match at No. 2 singles. Maloney won the first set 6-3, but Donnet went up 4-0 in the second set and took it 6-1. In the third, it was tied 3-3 before Donnet won the last three games for the 6-3 final. It marked the first singles loss for Maloney since April 29, 2022.

No. 55 Fabian Salle made things interesting when he pushed the Cardinals within one, 3-2, with a 7-6 (4), 7-6 (7) decisions over No. 40 Gavin Young.

With all eyes on court 6, Will Cooksey delivered in the third set after splitting 6-1 sets with Andre Steinbach. Cooksey grabbed a 3-1 advantage and held on to win the final set 6-4 for his fifth…