April 15, 2012
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The No. 74 Purdue men's tennis battled with No. 40 Minnesota on Sunday at the Schwartz Tennis Center. The Boilermakers came up just short, 5-2.
Purdue (10-12, 2-6 Big Ten) earned the doubles point after the match came down to the top match. The Gophers won the first match at No. 2 with Leandro Toledo and Juan Pablo Ramirez beating Szymon Tatarczyk and Krisztian Krocsko, 8-5. Purdue leveled the score at one match apiece after Mark Kovacs and Pawel Poziomski won at No. 3, 8-5. The duo had previous trailed 4-1. Diego Acosta and Mark Kovacs would decided the point at No. 1 with a match against the No. 21 duo in the nation, Julian Dehn and Rok Bonin. Both teams held serve throughout until Purdue had a 7-6 lead. From there, the Boilermakers had match point when Dujovne ripped a backhand return down the line for the winner which clinched the point.
Minnesota (11-6) evened the score in singles. Jack Hamburg knocked off Evan Hawkins at No. 6, 6-3, 6-3. The Golden Gophers took a 2-1 lead with a win at No. 3. Dehn knocked off Tatarczyk, 6-3, 6-3. Phillip Arndt brought Minnesota within a point of the win with a 6-4, 7-6 (2) win at No. 4 over Krocsko.
The Golden Gophers clinched the win with a hard fought win at No. 2. The nation's No. 78 singles player, Toledo, topped Acosta in the first set, 6-4. Acosta would respond in a big way with a 6-1 win of his own in the second set. In the third, though, Toledo outlasted the Boilermaker freshman en route to a 6-1 win.
Kovacs got the Boilermakers back on the board with a win in the top singles position. The sophomore beat Bonin, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. The final match on the courts was at No. 5. Mathieu Froment edged Dujovne in a third set tiebreak, 6-2, 6-7 (6), 1-0 (5).
Purdue falls to 8-50 all-time in the series.
The Boilermakers return to action on Wednesday when they host No. 2 Ohio State. The match is scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m. ET at the Schwartz Tennis Center.