March 7, 2014
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The No. 54 Purdue men's tennis team upset No. 24 Northwestern, 4-3, in its Big Ten opener playing on the Bashman Courts of Schwartz Tennis Center Friday. The Boilermakers pushed their winning streak to six straight matches to improve to 7-1, 1-0 in the Big Ten. With the loss, the Wildcats fall to 10-7, 0-2 Big Ten.
Purdue defeated a higher-ranked opponent for the second time this season, registering a dominating 6-1 win over then-No. 64 Arkansas on Feb. 9. The win over the Wildcats also snaps Northwestern's two-match winning streak against the Boilermakers dating back to the 2012 season.
A major upset helped Purdue capture the doubles point. Playing in the No. 1 spot, the Boilermaker tandem of Diego Acosta and Aaron Dujovne took down No. 21 Raleigh Smith and Mihir Kumar, 8-3. The junior and senior duo extended their record to 3-1 and helped Purdue improve to 2-0 against ranked opponents in doubles action. Ricky Medinilla and Szymon Tatarczyk picked up their second win together, posting an 8-2 decision over Wildcats Alp Horoz and Sam Shropshire at No. 2.
In singles at the No. 6 spot, Mateus Silva prevailed in a grudge match against Northwestern's Alex Parareanu to clinch the dual victory for the Boilermakers. After taking the first set by the score of 6-4, he fell short in the second set, 3-6. Silva, now 7-1, brought home the win for his team in the third set, winning 7-5.
After giving up the first set to Kumar 5-7, Dujovne surrendered just three games in the next two sets (6-3, 6-0) to pick up his sixth win. He owns a 4-1 mark when playing at No. 4 singles. Mark Kovacs (7-1) was also victorious for the Boilermakers, defeating Konrad Zieba, 6-2, 6-1, in the No. 3 position.
Purdue will play its third match of the week, hitting the road to take on sixth-ranked Illinois Sunday at 1 p.m. ET in Champaign, Ill.
No. 54 Purdue 4, No. 24 Northwestern 3 | Box Score
Doubles
1: Diego Acosta/Aaron Dujovne (Purdue) def. No. 21 Raleigh Smith/Mihir Kumar (Northwestern), 8-3
2: Szymon Tatarczyk/Ricky Medinilla (Purdue) def. Alp Horoz/Sam Shropshire (Northwestern), 8-3
3: Strong Kirchheimer/Fedor Baev (Northwestern) def. Mateus Silva/Mark Kovacs (Purdue), 5-4 DNF
Singles
1. No. 44 Raleigh Smith (Northwestern) def. Ricky Medinilla (Purdue), 6-2, 1-6, 6-2
2. No. 85 Sam Shropshire (Northwestern) def. Szymon Tatarczyk (Purdue), 6-3, 7-5
3. Mark Kovacs (Purdue) def. Konrad Zieba (Northwestern), 6-4, 6-1
4. Aaron Dujovne (Purdue) def. Mihir Kumar (Northwestern), 5-7, 6-3, 6-0
5. Strong Kirchheimer (Northwestern) def. Diego Acosta (Purdue), 5-7, 6-4, 6-4
6. Mateus Silva (Purdue) def. Alex Pasareanu (Northwestern), 6-4, 3-6, 7-5