EVANSTON, Ill. – The Illinois State men's tennis team came up short, 6-1, against Big Ten Conference foe Northwestern Wednesday evening at the Combe Tennis Center in the 2020 spring season opener.
"What a great match tonight. Although the score wasn't what we would like, I thought we fought hard on every court," ISU head coach Mark Klysner said. "For it being the first match of the spring, we literally were a few points away in several courts from making the score much closer. Huge congrats to our freshman, Melker Isaksson, who just arrived last week and played a fantastic match to start his college career."
Northwestern picked up a 1-0 lead, after capturing wins in the No. 2 and No. 3 spots to secure the doubles point. The No. 1 doubles match was halted in the first set, as the teams moved onto singles action. The 'Cats then picked up wins in the first five singles matches, before Isaksson picked up the point for the Redbirds with a 7-5, 7-5 victory over Northwestern's Russell Berdusco at the No. 6 spot.
The Redbirds return to action on Saturday for a pair of matches, when they travel to Madison, Wisconsin. ISU will take on the host Wisconsin Badgers at 11 a.m., before taking on Chicago State at 3 p.m.
Northwestern 6, Illinois State 1
Singles Competition
1. Steven Forman (NU) def. Diego Le Gal Perez (ISU) 6-0, 7-5
2. Dominik Stary (NU) def. Jorge Adair Bartra Quispe (ISU) 6-2, 6-1
3. Nick Brookes (NU) def. Pol Botifoll Rius (ISU) 6-4, 6-4
4. Trice Pickens (NU) def. Nam Pham (ISU) 6-1, 6-4
5. Simen Bratholm (NU) def. Aleksa Lazarevic (ISU) 6-2, 6-2
6. Melker Isaksson (ISU) def. Russell Berdusco (NU) 7-5, 7-5
Doubles Competition
1. Nick Brookes/Simen Bratholm (NU) vs. Jorge Adair Bartra Quispe / Diego Le Gal Perez (ISU) 5-4, unfinished
2. Chris Ephron/Dominik Stary (NU) def. Brandon Lew/Melker Isaksson (ISU) 6-3
3. Steven Forman/Trice Pickens (NU) def. Nam Pham/Aleksa Lazarevic (ISU) 6-1
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