Jan. 28, 2007
EVANSTON, Ill. -- After knocking off 42nd-ranked San Diego on Friday, the Wildcats could not top their second ranked opponent in as many matches, falling 7-0 to 24th-ranked Wake Forest, Sunday morning at the Combe Tennis Center. Due to a scheduling conflict, the dual began with singles.
The loss drops Northwestern to 3-3 while Wake Forest improves to 2-0.
Matt Christian (Troy, Mich./Brother Rice) provided the excitement in the No. 3 singles match. The senior cruised to a 6-1 victory in the first set after going up a break and 2-0. However, Wake's Andrew Hamar evened the match with a 6-4 win in the second set. The senior fell 7-3 in the third-set tiebreaker.
At No. 1 singles, senior Christian Tempke (Wentorf, Germany/Gymnasium LohbrÜgge) fell to fourth-ranked Todd Paul, 6-1, 6-2. Tempke went down a break at 3-1 and could not win another game in the first set. Paul won the second set, 6-2, behind his powerful serve and forehand.
Willy Lock (Lima, Peru/Markham College) played a dramatic first set against Wake's Cory Parr, falling 7-5. The senior went down a break, 5-3, but got it right back the next game to make the set 5-4. The two stayed on serve until 6-5, when Parr broke the Wildcat to capture the first set. Lock could only muster one game in the second frame and fell in the No. 2 singles match, 7-5, 6-1.
At No. 5, sophomore Marc Dwyer (Peachtree City, Ga./University of Nebraska-Indep. Study High School) played a tight two-setter against Steve Forman, but was not able to break the Deacon at the right moments. Dwyer lost the first set, 6-3, but fought back from a 3-0 deficit to get within one break of evening the match. The sophomore could not get back on serve and fell 6-4 in the second set.
Junior Juan Gomez (Mexico, City/Mexico) fell to Marius Adamski at No. 4, 6-1, 6-2. Freshman Alex Sanborn (Houston, Texas/Kinkaid) stayed in his No. 6 singles match until the very end, fighting back to 5-4 in the second, but he dropped his second dual match of the season, 6-2, 6-4.
In doubles action, the Wildcats' 27th-ranked pair of Christian and Lock fell to Wake's Todd Paul and Marius Adamski, 8-5.
At the No. 2 spot, Tempke and Gomez were up a break, but Wake's team of Cory Parr and Steve Forman broke back at 7-6 to keep the match from going to a tiebreaker and won, 8-5.
At No. 3, Sanborn and sophomore Alexey Evstratenkov (Moscow, Russia/Moscow International Gymnasia) fell to Charles Sartor and Andrew Brasseaux, 8-2.
The 'Cats return to action in their final dual of a seven-match home stand to start the 2007 campaign when they host Arkansas, Friday at 6 p.m.