IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The University of Iowa men's tennis defeated Northwestern, 4-1, Sunday afternoon at the Hawkeye Tennis & Recreation Complex earning the Hawkeyes their second conference victory of the season. The match started with the Hawkeyes securing the doubles point for the 15th time in 20 matches, recording wins of 6-4 and 6-0 on courts one and two, respectively. Kareem Allaf and Jonas Larsen, the 70th-ranked doubles team in the country, took down Northwestern’s No. 1 squad, 6-4. Will Davies and partner Piotr Smietana won their 13th doubles match of the year, a team-best, bounced the Wildcats' No. 2 team, 6-0.
Freshman Joe Tyler continues to be a dominant force, winning his team-leading fourth Big Ten match, beating Antonioni Fasano, 6-4, 6-3. Allaf cruised to a 7-5, 6-2 win over Northwestern’s nationally-ranked Fasano to give Iowa their third team point of the day. The HTRC was in a frenzy when Davies came back in a spirited third set to improve his record to 3-1 playing at No. 5.
Senior Josh Silverstein and Larsen were in a close matches in the third set on courts two and six when the match was clinched.
Quoting Head Coach Ross Wilson
“Getting four out of the six first sets on your home court is huge. Then Will (Davies) always seems to be like the guy who is always on the court for every big match. He handled himself well today under pressure. He made adjustments to his game after the second set, and played really well in the third set to eventually clinch the match for us.”
Iowa 4, Northwestern 1April 1, 2018 | Noon (CT) | Iowa City, Iowa | HTRC Singles1. Dominik Stary (NW) def. Piotr Smietana (UI): 6-3, 6-42. Josh Silverstein (UI) vs. Nick Brookes (NW): 7-6(5), 5-7, 0-23. Joe Tyler (UI) def. Ben Vandixhorn (NW): 6-4, 6-34. Kareem Allaf (UI): def. #115 Antonioni Fasano (NW): 7-5, 6-25. Will Davies (UI) def. Jason Seidman (NW): 6-4, 2-6, 6-36. Jonas Larsen (UI) vs. Chris Ephron (NW): 3-6, 6-4, 4-5 Doubles1. #70 Allaf/Larsen (UI) def. #56 Vandixhorn/Stary (NW): 6-42. #40 Smietana/Davies (UI) def. Brookes/Lorenzini (NW): 6-03. Tyler/Jacoby (UI) vs. Fasano/Ephron (NW): 4-5, unfinished Match Notes:Iowa: 10-10 (2-3)Northwestern: 7-11 (2-2)Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (3,4,1,5)