Cardinals Come Up Short at Northwestern

Sunday, January 23

Evanston, IL

1:00 P.M.

University of Louisville

Northwestern

Photo by: Taris Smith | Louisville Athletics

January 23, 2022 | Men's Tennis

Box Score

By: Lori Harmon

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville men's tennis team won the doubles point, but fell 4-2 to host Northwestern Sunday afternoon at the Combe Tennis Center.

"We are fighting so hard and I am proud the guys for that, but we definitely need to work on capitalizing chances when we have them," said UofL head coach Rodrigo da Silva. "Back to work on Tuesday so we can get ready for the ITA Kickoff."

The Cardinals (2-2) gained an early lead after winning a competitive doubles points. Northwestern struck first with a 6-1 win at No. 2 as Steven Forman and Felix Nordby topped Louisville's Sergio Hernandez and Alex Wesbrooks 6-1. The Cardinals answered when Etienne Donnet and Natan Rodrigues teamed to beat Simen Bratholm and Russell Berdusco 6-4 at No. 1. The first point of the match was decided on court 3 where Josh Howard-Tripp and Tin Chen bested Trice Pickens and Natan Spear 6-4.

In singles, the Wildcats (3-1) evened the score at the three-spot when Pickens, No. 92 in the ITA singles rankings, beat Chen 6-4, 6-1. On court 4, Nordby picked up a 6-3, 6-2 win against Rodrigues to give Northwestern a 2-1 lead.

The Cardinals countered with Hernandez's 6-4, 6-3 victory over Gleb Blekher at the five-spot to tie the match at 2-2.

At the top seed, Etienne Donnet rebounded from a 6-2 first set loss to beat Steven Forman 6-2 in the second set, but the Wildcat prevailed 6-3 in the decisive third set to put Northwestern on top 3-2. David Mizrahi lost 6-4, 6-4 to Saiprakash Goli at No. 6 to end the match.

On court 2, Howard-Tripp split sets with No. 104 Bratholm when the match was clinched.

Louisville will return to action on January 30 at 10 a.m. when the Cardinals head to Orlando, Fla., face host UCF in the first round of the ITA Kickoff Weekend.

Northwestern 4, Louisville Men's Tennis 2
1/ 23/2022 at Evanston, Ill.
(Combe Tennis Center)
Singles
1. Steven Forman (NW) def. Etienne Donnet (LOU) 6-2, 2-6, 6-3
2. #104 Simen Bratholm (NW) vs. Josh Howard-Tripp (LOU) 6-2, 6-7, unfinished
3. #92 Trice Pickens (NW) def. Tin Chen (LOU) 6-4, 6-1
4. Felix Nordby (NW) def. Natan Rodrigues (LOU) 6-3, 6-2
5. Sergio Hernandez (LOU) def. Gleb Blekher (NW) 6-4, 6-3
6. Saiprakash Goli (NW) def. David Mizrahi (LOU) 6-4, 6-4
Doubles
1. Etienne Donnet/Natan Rodrigues (LOU) def. Simen Bratholm/Russell Berdusco (NW) 6-4
2. Steven Forman/Felix Nordby (NW) def. Sergio Hernandez/Alex Wesbrooks (LOU) 6-1
3. Josh Howard-Tripp/Tin Chen (LOU) def. Trice Pickens/Natan Spear (NW) 6-4

Order of finish: Doubles (,1,2,3); Singles (3,4,5,1,6)