SMU Tennis Defeats Wisconsin

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DALLAS (SMU) – The SMU Mustangs improved to 10-2 in 2015 with a 4-1 victory over the Wisconsin Badgers on Saturday.

SMU (10-2) got the first point on the scoreboard, continuing its dominance in doubles this season. Freshman Samm Butler and sophomore Tony Russell won quickly on court 3, 6-2, to improve to 5-1 as a pair this spring. Junior Nate Lammons and sophomore Arkadijs Slobodkins remained undefeated as a duo, winning 7-5 on court 2 to give SMU the 1-0 match lead.

Sophomore Markus Kerner promptly doubled SMU’s lead with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Wisconsin’s Josef Dodridge at No. 2 singles. Butler then made the Mustangs’ lead 3-0 with a win by the same score at No. 3 over Jakhongir Jalalov. The win extended Butler’s personal unbeaten streak to seven matches, and improved his singles record to 11-1 this spring.

After the Badgers picked up a win on court 1, Lammons clinched the match for the Mustangs with a 7-5, 7-5 victory against Tomas Pitra at No. 4. Russell’s match at No. 6 was called in the middle of a second-set tiebreaker, while Slobodkins was in the third set of his match at No. 5.

The Mustangs came into the match ranked 63rd in the first computerized ITA National Rankings. SMU is off to its best start since 2006, when it opened the season at 11-1.

SMU will play Incarnate Word tomorrow at 11 a.m. CT at the SMU Tennis Complex. Admission is free.