Indiana men’s tennis begins a busy weekend of matches with a battle against No. 24 Northwestern on Friday night. The Hoosiers are 11-6 on the year and 1-0 in Big Ten play after a commanding 7-0 win in West Lafayette against Purdue last weekend.
The Hoosiers have been dominant at home this year, boasting a 10-1 record at the IU Tennis Center. The lone loss came Feb. 17 against the University of Louisville, a 4-0 defeat.
“It’s always great to play in front of your home fans,” head coach Jeremy Wurtzman said ahead of the match against Northwestern. “We feed off their energy.”
Indiana has not fared well against ranked opponents this year. The Hoosiers are 0-6 against teams ranked inside the top 75.
“We haven’t been able to match the intensity of some of the top teams we’ve played,” Wurtzman said. “We have to have a better mindset going into those matches.”
Northwestern sits at 12-7 through the first two months of the season. The Wildcats are 1-1 in the Big Ten with a win over No. 73 Penn State and a loss to No. 2 Ohio State. Northwestern is 4-3 on the road this year.
In doubles, Northwestern is propelled by graduate students Simen Bratholm and Ivan Yatsuk. The two are the No. 55 pairing in the country, with a 4-4 record on the year.
The Wildcats are led in singles play by the No. 54 ranked singles player in the country, graduate student Steven Forman. Forman is 5-2 in singles play this year. His two losses are to No. 30, senior Harris Walker of Harvard and No. 53, senior Justin Boulais of Ohio State.
“They’ve got a lot of great players who have played a lot of college tennis,” Wurtzman said. “We’re going to have to be at our best.”
The Hoosiers and the Wildcats have had three common opponents thus far: Middle Tennessee State, Louisville and Princeton. Indiana lost its matches to all three of those teams by a combined score of 12-3. Northwestern is 1-2 against those teams with a 4-0 sweep of Princeton, a tight 4-3 loss to Middle Tennessee State and a 4-0 loss on the road against Louisville.
The Hoosiers also play host to No. 22 Illinois and St. Louis as part of a Sunday doubleheader beginning at noon.
Illinois is 13-8 on the year and 1-1 in Big Ten play. The Illini play a road match against Purdue on Friday before visiting the Hoosiers. St. Louis is 14-2 this season and hosts Bellarmine University on Saturday before hitting the road to take on Indiana.
