CHICAGO - Earlier this month, the Purdue men's tennis team played nearly perfect in the Windy City through two matches against Niagara (4-0 and 5-1); however, the same could not be said about its performance against Northwestern on Friday. The No. 20-ranked team in the nation handed the Boilermakers their third shutout of the season with a 4-0 mark at the Combe Tennis Center.
In doubles, Purdue surrendered the combined point with losses on courts two and three. Stephan Koenigsfest and Benjamin Ugarte fell 6-3 to Ben Vandixhorn and Konrad Zieba on the second, and Athell Bennett and Lucas Omer Dages dropped their match 7-5 on court three to Chris Ephron and Michael Lorenzini. No. 7 Gergely Madarasz and Ricky Medinilla's match was left unfinished on court one.
Madarasz was recognized as the Big Ten Player of the Week on Tuesday after going 5-0 at the BNP Paribas Open Collegiate Tennis Challenge, but the junior was unable to lift his team in doubles with the match playing to clinch.
The same was also true in singles with three straight losses by the Boilermakers on courts three, one and five; Madarasz held the number two position against the Wildcats as he did during his victories in Indian Wells, California.
On court three, Koenigsfest was defeated 6-2, 6-3 by Dominik Stary; Medinilla also fell in straight sets to Strong Kirchheimer, losing 6-3, 6-0 on court one. Bennett's 6-4, 6-3 loss to Jason Seidman on court five clinched the match for Northwestern.
Purdue returns to action at home Saturday for a 2 p.m. ET match against Michigan State.