Indiana men’s tennis ended its Big Ten Tournament run on Thursday. The Hoosiers advanced to the quarterfinals after defeating Oregon on Wednesday, before ultimately losing to Michigan State.
After Indiana’s regular season ended with a pair of losses, the Hoosiers came into the Big Ten Tournament as the No. 9 seed set to face off against No. 8 Oregon. The two teams met earlier in the season, with Oregon narrowly winning 4-3. But on Wednesday, the Hoosiers were in control.
Oregon seniors Pierre Mouesca and Lachlan Robertson took down Indiana redshirt junior Facundo Yunis and senior Jip van Assendelft 6-2, starting the day off for the Ducks. Indiana soon recovered though, thanks to the now-No. 33 ranked doubles team of sophomore Matteo Antonescu and graduate student Michael Andre, which won 6-3. At doubles three, sophomore Braeden Gelletich and redshirt junior Sam Landau won 6-4, securing the first point for Indiana heading into singles play.
Gelletich came out swinging for his singles match following the doubles win. He claimed the first set handedly and didn’t slow down in the second, winning 6-3, 6-4. Yunis beat Robertson steadily 6-4, 6-4. Redshirt freshman Aidan Atwood, who’s been a bright spot at the singles six spot for the Hoosiers, brought the match to an end after he took control in the second set and won 6-4, 6-1.
It was a quick day for the Hoosiers, but they had little time to rest as they were set to face off against the No. 1-seeded Michigan State the very next day.
After losing 4-3 on the road to Michigan State just six days ago, the Hoosiers were looking for revenge. Antonescu and Andre took down Michigan State at doubles in the last week. This week, they weren’t so lucky. The duo couldn’t maintain their consistency and dropped the first match of the day 6-3, ending their three-match win streak.
It was the opposite for Yunis and van Assendelft, who lost their last three doubles matches together. Thursday’s set was filled with service game wins, but the duo stole one toward the end, giving them the edge and leaving it to No. 3 doubles to take the first point of the quarterfinal. Landau played with Atwood on Thursday, which was their first time together this season. It showed; they only won one game in the set. The performance put Michigan State up 1-0.
On the singles side, after winning against Oregon the day before, Atwood was the first to go against the Spartans. His opponent, sophomore Mitchell Sheldon, dominated in the second set after Atwood was able to keep the first set close. Sheldon won 7-5, 6-0. At Singles No. 3, Andre was set to take on No. 57-ranked senior Ozan Baris. Baris beat van Assendelft in the last matchup after a tiebreak. He ran Andre around the court and put the Spartans up 3-0 with a 6-3, 6-2 win.
Yunis was able to continue his strong Big Ten Tournament campaign and gave the Hoosiers a sliver of hope with a 6-3, 6-3 win at doubles No. 4. He also went 2-0 against the Spartans this season. The Hoosiers’ time in the tournament ended at the doubles No. 2 position, however. Van Assendelft fought in the second set to try and hang on, but he lost yet another tiebreak. It was the third week in a row he’s lost a tiebreak, sending the Hoosiers home.
With the Hoosiers’ conference tournament hopes ending, they will now look ahead to a potential bid at the NCAA men’s tennis team championships. The selection show for the 64-team tournament will take place on April 27.
