- #1 seed Ohio State advanced to the finals of Big Ten Mens Tennis Championships (BTMTC) with 4-1 win over #4 seed Minnesota.
- #2 seed Illinois bounced back from losing the doubles point to win 4-1 over #3 seed Michigan
- Preview and prediction of BTMTC finals
- Finals start at 1 p.m EDT/Noon CDT. I will be there providing coverage on Twitter. You can follow me on Twitter @OtMarcwMrClutch with latest coverage.
#1 seed Ohio State: 4, #4 seed Minnesota: 1
#1 seed Ohio State were pushed by #4 seed Minnesota during singles play, but prevailed to advance to their 13th straight Big Ten tournament finals. Ohio State came out hot with quick and secured the doubles point with resounding victories on court 1 and 2. Mikael Torpegaard/John McNally had no problems dispatching Matic Spec/Justyn Levin, 6-0. On court 1, Minnesota pair of Josip Krstanovic/Felix Corwin fought off five set points before succumbing to JJ Wolf/Martin Joyce, 6-2. Court 3 was unfinished with Stefan Milicevic/Marino Alpeza up a break on Hunter Tubert/Matt Mendez.
Singles ended up being a war as neither team was able to jump out to leads of more than one break on any court. Tubert, inserted in the lineup with Tim Seibert out, got late breaks in both sets to extend Ohio States lead to 2-0. Corwin exacted revenge for a regular season loss to Torpegaard with a 6-3, 6-4 victory. Momentum seemed to have shifted over to Minnesota as Krstanovic and Allen were able to force deciding sets on courts 4 and 5, respectively, and Spec was able to get back on serve with Wolf on court 2. However, Wolf was soon able to break Spec at love to put Ohio State one team point away from another trip to the finals. Seelig provided the clinching point as Krstanovics shot hit the net tape and trickled wide.
Quotes from Ohio State:
Obviously anytime you plan Minnesota its going to be tough. We played them earlier this year and they gave us our toughest run in the regular season and they played us tough again today. It was a point here and a point there that decided it. This was a good win. Head Coach Ty Tucker
Kevins take
Minnesota is a very good team and probably should be ranked higher than in the 30s nationally. Unlike quite a few schools in the north, they are more than capable outdoors. In fact, Corwin, Milicevic, Allen, and possibly Krstanovic are better outdoors than indoors. With the right draw, Minnesota could upset a top 10 team and make it to the round of 16 in the NCAA tournament. Corwins win over Torpegaard is also significant as it might move him high for a bid in to the NCAA singles competition. Ohio State showed why they are one of the top teams as they were able to absorb Minnesotas best punch and fight back.
#2 seed Illinois: 4. #3 seed Michigan: 1
#2 seed Illinois lost the doubles, but fought back in singles to advance to the finals of the BTMTC. Myles Schalet/Connor Johnston were able to get breaks to win 6-3 over Caleb Chakravarthi/Alex Brown. Kristofer Siimar/Runhao Hua were in the driver seat with an early break as well, but were beaten out of the clinch by Harrison Brown/Alex Knight on court 3. Vuk Budic was serving to force a tiebreaker, but his second serve at 5-6, 15-40 hit the net cord and kicked wide.
Illinois had beaten Michigan after losing the doubles point earlier in the season and with the same singles matches, felt confident that history will repeat itself. Brown, who is from Iowa, got Illinois on the board in convincing fashion, beating Schalet 6-1, 6-0. Aleks Vukic, won the first set, but found himself down big in the second. In a stunning turn of events, Vukic was able to quickly turn the tables and defeated Knight 6-4, 7-5 to put Illinois up 2-1. On court 5, Aleks Kovacevic won the last five games to defeat Carter Lin 6-2, 2-6, 6-3. With court 6 about to split and court 2 already split, Zeke Clark was able to break Mattias Siimar at 5-5 and served it out at love to win 7-6(2), 7-5, clinching the team match for Illinois.
Brad Dancer postmatch interview:
Zeke Clarks postmatch interview:
Kevins take
What were once tight matches for the doubles point turned very quickly in Michigans favor. However, the Maize and Blue were unable to carry that momentum in to singles. Michigan had chances to win first sets (Hua up 5-3, Siimar up 5-1), but ended up putting themselves in a big hole by not winning any. That said, Michigan still had chances in the second and third set. Had Knight been able to secure the split on court 1, this match could have gone either way. Credit Illinois for coming out fighting after the doubles point and finishing strong. Even though he did not finish, Hiltzik was huge for fighting back to help the Illini sweep the first sets and keep momentum firmly in their corner.
Preview of Big Ten Mens Tennis Championships Final: Ohio State vs. Illinois
Either Ohio State or Illinois have won the Big Ten tournament every year since 1997 and one of them will walk away with the trophy this year. Before a preview of projected lineups and predictions, let review what happened last time these two teams played on April 14th in Columbus, Ohio.
This match was actually started outdoors, completing the doubles point as well as a set of singles. However, rain soon forced play indoors, where the Buckeyes won on courts 1, 2, and 6 to clinch the team match 4-0.
Projected Lineups for Big Ten tournament finals:
In doubles, the only match-up that remains constant from last time is on court 2, where Mikael Torpegaard/John McNally led Zeke Clark/Aleks Kovacevic, 4-2, when the doubles point was already clinched. In singles, the only sure bet is that Torpegaard will face Vukic once again. JJ Wolf will switch to facing Aron Hiltzik, while John McNally now draws the home state favorite, Alex Brown. From court 4 on down is where matchups could get murky. Illinois is almost certainly going to come out with Clark, Kovacevic, and Chakravarthi on courts 4, 5, and 6, respectively. Noe Khlif would be the next person up for Illinois in the singles lineup. For Ohio State, the question will be whether or not Tim Seibert will be playing. The freshman Seibert has shown massive game and already went toe-to-toe with Kovacevic, Illinoiss #2 player by UTR. If Seibert is not in the lineup, Ty Tucker has multiple options that can come in as Alex Kobelt, Matt Mendez, Riley Riest, and Hunter Tubert all have spent time in the lineup.
Prediction: Ohio State 4-3
Based on the form the Buckeyes have shown this week, I expect them to take a very close double point. Illinois will come out with a lot of passion, but Torpegaard/McNally have been dominant since pairing up and Tubert/Mendez have been rock solid. Even the team of Joyce/Wolf have shown to be more than capable of winning on court 1.
In singles, on court 1, I expect Aleks Vukic to carry the momentum from today and defeat Mikael Torpegaard. Torpegaards best results have all been on medium pace courts or faster and the courts at Iowa appear to be slow, which should favor Vukic.
On court 2, JJ Wolf has been in fine form and that should translate to a tough win over Aron Hiltzik. Hiltzik has the experience and mental toughness to combat Wolfs talent, but Wolf has just been too good this week.
On court 4, Zeke Clark should be a favorite over Tim Seibert. These slow courts will allow Clark to grind all day.
On court 5, Aleks Kovacevic will be a slight favorite over Kyle Seelig. Both of them had difficult three set matches today and both of them clinched for their respective teams. However, Kovacevics effortless game is a little much for Seelig to handle, but this match should go to three sets.
On court 6, Martin Joyce will pull this match out over Caleb Chakravarthi, but it will be a very close match. Last time these two played, Joyce clinched the team dual with a late break and comfortable win. However, Joyce struggled today with Allen of Minnesota and Chakravarthi was able to take a set off Crocker before the match was decided. However, Joyces experience should carry him through.
On court 3 will be a showdown between the two best freshmen in the Big Ten this year. John McNally has shown why he was one of the top recruits in the country with his outstanding play in the clutch. However, Alex Brown will have the momentum from his beatdown of Schalet in the semifinals as well as the crowd on his side. This matchup is the most difficult to call, but believe that John McNally will clinch the Big Ten tournament finals for Ohio State.
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