WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue men's tennis team closed out the regular season with a 4-2 loss to Michigan Sunday at the Schwartz Tennis Center. With the loss, the Boilermakers finished with a mark of 4-19, 0-11 B1G, while Michigan moved to 6-16, 3-8 B1G heading into the B1G Men's Tennis Tournament.
The Wolverines jumped out to an early lead by taking the doubles point with wins at Nos. 1 and 2. The first victory came at the No. 2 spot with Kevin Wong and Alex Petrone defeating Purdue's Arthur Dobradin and Lucas Dages, 8-2. The doubles point was clinched with an 8-4 win at No. 1 from Runhao Hua and Alex Knight over Diego Acosta and Ricky Medinilla.
After completing doubles outside, rain moved into the area and forced singles play to be moved inside to the Basham Courts.
The battle at singles went back and forth with the result at No. 6 deciding the dual match. Purdue's Renan Hanayama took the first set from Kevin Wong, 7-5, and Wong used a 6-0 second set to even the match. With the Wolverines up 3-2, Wong blanked Hanayama in the third set to clinch the match.
With the first four matches exchanged, the stage was set for a dramatic finish. Medinilla, playing at No. 2, got the Boilermakers on the board with a straight-set victory over Petrone, 6-3, 6-1. The win was the eighth of his sophomore spring season.
Michigan answered and took 2-1 lead with a win at the No. 4 spot from Knight, who defeated Dobradin, 6-1, 6-2. A 7-6 (4), 6-2 showing from Purdue's Acosta over Zhu at the top of the lineup knotted the score at 2-2. Acosta's victory in his final home match gave him the team lead in singles victories with nine.
Michigan took control from there by capturing No. 5 with Davis Crocker's 7-6 (4), 6-4 match against Dages, followed by No. 6.
Next week's B1G Men's Tennis Tournament will get underway in Urbana, Illinois, on April 23. For more information on the tournament, please click here.
MICHIGAN 4, PURDUE 2
Doubles
1. Runhao Hua/Alex Knight (Michigan) def. Ricky Medinilla/Diego Acosta (Purdue), 8-4
2. Kevin Wong/Alex Petrone (Michigan) def. Arthur Dobradin/Lucas Dages (Purdue), 8-2
3. Mateus Silva/Renan Hanayama (Purdue) vs. Davis Crocker/Tyler Gardiner (Michigan), 7-4 DNF
Order of finish: 2, 1
Singles
1. Diego Acosta (Purdue) def. Michael Zhu (Michigan), 7-6 (4), 6-2
2. Ricky Medinilla (Purdue) def. Alex Petrone (Michigan), 6-3, 6-1
3. Mateus Silva (Purdue) vs. Runhao Hua (Michigan), 6-7 (0), 5-2 DNF
4. Alex Knight (Michigan) def. Arthur Dobradin (Purdue), 6-1, 6-2
5. Davis Crocker (Michigan) def. Lucas Dages (Purdue), 7-6 (4), 6-4
6. Kevin Wong (Michigan) def. Renan Hanayama (Purdue), 5-7, 6-0, 6-0
Order of finish: 2, 4, 1, 5, 6