A player from Minnesota was the deciding factor in the Gophers’ dual versus Wisconsin.
In the Big Ten action of his career, the Shakopee, Minnesota native, Jackson Allen, put his stamp on the boarder battle by clinching the victory for Minnesota. Minnesota (4-3) beat Wisconsin (5-5) 5-2 on Saturday afternoon.
Allen clinched the victory against the Badgers from the No. 5 singles spot. He battled his opponent and beat him 6-4, 6-4. He was down in the second set, but clawed his way back and ended up on top. In the final set, Allen sprinted from left side of the court to the right side and hit a slicing shot that curved in for a point. The next point after that was the match clincher.
“I had a lot of family here today, so I wanted to do well in front of them,” Allen said. “Happy that everyone came with a lot of energy and focus today.”
In the doubles portion of the match, both the Badgers and the Gophers came out swinging. The pairing of Stefan Milicevic and Marino Alpeza won the No. 3 doubles match 6-3.
Josip Krstanovic and Justyn Levin clinched the doubles point with a 7-5 win. Minnesota erupted after the winning smash from Levin.
“I liked our doubles today, I thought that they were really good with doubles […] and that was a key point in the match as it usually is,” said head coach Geoff Young. “Wisconsin was a really good team and this win feels good.”
The singles matches were just as competitive. Minnesota grabbed two quick points in the singles portion of the meet with wins from the No. 1 and No. 2 singles spots.
Corwin cruised to a 6-0, 7-5 victory, using his serve as his biggest weapon. Spec was first to finish as he beat his opponent 6-3, 6-0 to capture the second point for Minnesota. Then, Allen followed their victories to clinch the Gophers first Big Ten win of the season. Krstanovic picked up the fifth and final win for Minnesota in a three set thriller that took almost two hours.
Eli Ogilvy battled in the No. 4 singles spot. The match was cut short because the meet was already clinched. Ogilvy won the first set 7-6, but lost 6-7 in the second set. No. 34 ranked Milicevic played in the No. 3 spot and lost 6-7, 1-6. Milicevic’s record in singles this year is now 2-4.
