Michigan Wins ITA Kick-Off to Advance to Indoor Championship

Michigan Wins ITA Kick-Off to Advance to Indoor Championship

» Andrew Fenty tied Evan King as the winningest Wolverine in program history with 195 victories.

» Michigan won its third ITA Kick-Off and reaches the ITA National Indoors for the third time since 2009.

» The Wolverines have won the doubles point in all six matches this season.

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

Event: ITA Kick Off (Day 2 of 2)

Score: #4 Michigan 4, #24 Northwestern 0

Records: U-M (6-0), Northwestern (4-2)

Next U-M Event: Friday, Feb. 3 — at Baylor, 5 p.m. CST

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The No. 4-ranked University of Michigan men’s tennis team won the ITA Kick-Off on Sunday (Jan. 29) with a 4-0 win over No. 24 Northwestern on Sunday (Jan. 29) at the Varsity Tennis Center. With the victory, the Wolverines punched their ticket to the ITA Indoor National Championship, Feb. 17-20 in Chicago.

Ondrej Styler clinched the team match for Michigan (6-0), winning a third-set tiebreak at No. 2 singles to defeat Ivan Yatsuk 6-4, 0-6, 7-6 (4).

For the sixth straight match, the Wolverines claimed the doubles point after a battle at No. 3, where Will Cooksey and Jacob Bickersteth jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but Wildcats Trice Pickens and Natan Spear won four straight to take over, 4-2. Michigan responded with its own 3-0 run to take a 5-4 edge, but the lead was exchanged again after Northwestern won two more for a 6-5 advantage. Down 40-15 in the 12th game, Cooksey and Bickerseth won three straight points to knot the match at 6-6 to force the tiebreaker. It was all Maize and Blue in the tiebreaker as they went up 5-1 before taking the set and match with a 7-2 score.

Patrick Maloney and Styler dominated at No. 2 with a 6-1 win over Steven Forman and Felix Nordby. No. 14-ranked Andrew Fenty and Gavin Young lost their first dual match of the season, moving to 10-4 in doubles play with a 6-4 loss to Simen Bratholm and Yatsuk. The Wolverines had the lead 3-2 before the Wildcats won three straight games to go up 5-3. Fenty and Young got a game back on serve but could not break the Northwestern duo in the final game for the 6-4 decision.

In singles play, Bickersteth and Fenty won in straight sets to push Michigan ahead 3-0 in the team match….