April 10, 2010
The Purdue men's tennis team was handed a 5-2 defeat by 33rd-ranked Wisconsin on Saturday afternoon at the Nielsen Tennis Center in Madison, Wis.
"I thought we played well in doubles," head coach Pawel Gajdzik said. "Going into singles, we knew it was going to be a battle. I'm very pleased with the performances by Eric (Ramos) and Thomas (Wilson), but I'm disappointed with the seniors. They know that they have to get better. Now, we are going to regroup and prepare for our match tomorrow. It is another chance to improve and make good things happen."
Purdue (10-10, 0-5 Big Ten) played close in doubles, but ultimately dropped the point. Wisconsin (14-6, 3-2) started the scoring when Patrick Pohlmann and Michael Dierberger earned an 8-1 win over junior Eric Ramos and senior Paul Foley at No. 3. The Boilermakers evened the point at No. 2, where senior P.J. Rose and sophomore Thomas Wilson defeated Chris Freeman and Luke Rassow-Kantor 8-4. Mortiz Baumann and Marek Michalika clinched the point with an 8-5 win over seniors Slavko Bijelica and Branko Kuzmanovic at No. 1.
The Badgers claimed the match by winning the first four singles matches completed. Baumann, the 17th-ranked singles player in the NCAA, picked up a 6-4, 6-0 win over Bijelica at No. 1 before Pohlmann brought the Badgers within one point of victory with his 6-1, 6-0 victory over Rose at No. 3. Michalika, who is ranked 21st in singles, clinched the match with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Kuzmanovic at No. 2. Freeman claimed the final Wisconsin win with a 6-0, 6-2 decision over Foley at No. 5.
The Boilermakers continued to fight and took the final two singles contests. Wilson halted a three-match losing streak and earned his seventh victory of the dual-match portion of the schedule when he defeated Ricardo Martin 6-4, 6-1 at No. 6. Ramos won his second consecutive match and moved into sole possession of the team lead for Big Ten singles victories by defeating Billy Bertha 6-4, 7-6 (6) at No. 4 to close the match. Ramos' win was his 11th dual-match triumph, which ties his single-season career high.
Purdue travels to Northwestern to take on the 48th-ranked Wildcats on Sunday. Action begins at 1 p.m. ET, and live results from the Vandy Christie Tennis Center can be found at purduesports.com.