SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame men’s tennis team suffered its first loss of the season on Friday evening, dropping a 4-3 decision at home to Wisconsin (6-1). Important to note that the Fighting Irish (4-1) were without their All-American senior Sebastian Dominko, who is currently off competing for Slovenia in the Davis Cup.
It came down to the wire in both doubles and singles. The Irish lost their first doubles point of the year and fell into an early 1-0 deficit. Notre Dame exchanged 6-3 victories on courts two & three, putting all eyes on court one, where #16 Llorens Saracho/Nad battled Olsson/Zlatohlavek into a tiebreak.
Llorens Saracho/Nad rallied down 1-2 to go up 3-2, but Olsson/Zlatohlavek rattled off four straight points before taking it 7-6(4).
Next, Wisconsin claimed a two-point lead after a straight set victory on court six. Yet, Notre Dame countered immediately to tie it at 2-2 with wins on courts one and five. Perry Gregg knocked off #75 Michael Minasyan, 6-3, 6-2. Then, Luis Llorens Saracho defeated Tomas Zlatohlavek, 7-6(1), 7-6(3).
A Badger three-set victory on court two put them on the cusp of match victory, but Kryan Magimay gave the Irish a shot on court four. After dropping a tough first set 7-6(3), Magimay bounced back to win the next two sets, 7-6, 6-3.
Thus, the match was decided on court three, where Peter Nad battled with Edouard Aubert. Nad dropped the first set 6-4, but showed some grit in set two by taking it 7-6(6). In the third and final decisive set, Aubert pushed ahead with the 6-3 win.
Up next, the Irish look to bounce back when they host DePaul on Sunday, Feb. 8, at 10 a.m. ET.
Notre Dame 3 – Wisconsin 4
DOUBLES – 2, 3, 1
1. Olsson/Zlatohlavek (WIS) def. #16 Llorens Saracho/Nad, 7-6(4)
2. Kloesters/Minasyan (WIS) def. Gregg/Magimay (ND), 6-3
3. Becker/Patrick (ND) def. Fullerton/Meszaros (WIS), 6-3
SINGLES – 6, 1, 5, 2, 4, 3
1. Perry Gregg (ND) def. #75 Michael Minasyan (WIS), 6-3, 6-2
2. Patrik Meszaros (WIS) def. Giuseppe Cerasuolo (ND), 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-3
3. Edouard Aubert (WIS) def. Peter Nad (ND), 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-3
4. Kyran Magimay (ND) def. Ferdinand Kloesters (WIS), 6-7(3), 7-5, 6-3
5. Luis Llorens Saracho (ND) def. Tomas Zlatohlavek (WIS), 7-6(1), 7-6(3)
6. Matthew Fullerton (WIS) def. Nicholas Patrick (ND), 6-3, 7-5
– ND –