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Men sweep a pair

The Michigan men's tennis team's dominance at the Liberty Sports Complex is enough to give the Wolverines' opponents complexes of their own.

Michigan swept two matches at Liberty this weekend in convincing fashion, defeating Purdue, 5-2, and blanking Illinois, 7-0. The wins move the Wolverines to 4-0 at home, 5-1 in the Big Ten and 10-7 overall.

The Wolverines opened the weekend facing a much improved Purdue team, coached by former Michigan assistant Tim Madden. Tempers flared but didn't boil over as Michigan won four of six singles matches against the Boilermakers.

"We came out and, for whatever reason, a lot of our players were in a real bad mood," Michigan coach Brian Eisner said. "Yes, we won the match, but we didn't move forward.

"I was a little disappointed, and I think that (the team) was disappointed, too."

For Michigan, Peter Pusztai defeated Derek Myers in two sets, 6-3, 6-4, at No. 1 singles. In the battle of the ranked doubles teams, the Wolverine duo of Pusztai and John Costanzo, ranked No. 24, defeated the 20th-ranked tandem of Myers and Cris James of Purdue, 8-2.

"We've probably got two of the five best doubles teams in the midwest," Eisner said. "And that's what has carried us. We usually win those matches like we did (this weekend)."

Yesterday, the Fighting Illini came to Ann Arbor looking to stop the Wolverines, who are riding a two-match winning streak. Illinois ended up being little more than a speed bump, dropping the dual match, 7-0. Eisner was happy with the team's performance against the Illini.

"This was our best performance of the year," Eisner said. "It didn't seem to make any difference what (Illinois) was going to do; we were going to do something better.

"That's what we want to build on to become a great team."

Leading the singles sweep for Michigan was Pusztai, who extended his own winning streak to six matches. He defeated Jeremy Sutter in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), recording a career-best 32nd victory on the season.

In the second set, Pusztai found himself down, 5-4, and 6-5, in the second set but stayed on serve to force the set into a tiebreaker. In the tiebreaker, Pusztai displayed the composure that has allowed him to win 32 matches, winning four straight points to clinch a 7-4 tiebreaker victory.

"I returned serve a lot better (against Purdue)," Pusztai said. "Again, I just let my mind wander, and I hit a few bad shots, but I still pulled out the win."

The victory against a veteran Illinois team boosted the confidence of the Wolverines and their coaches, Eisner said. The Illini entered the match at 4-1 in the Big Ten and figured to be the toughest challenge thus far in the conference for Michigan.

"This is huge win for us," Pusztai said. "We almost lost to Illinois last year, and they're a really good team.

"And to beat them 7-0, it really helps our confidence. I'm sure everybody else in the Big Ten will notice this win."

Several Michigan players bounced back after dropping the first set. The Wolverines' Arvid Swan, Jake Raiton and William Farah each posted three-set victories after a first-set scare.

"Our guys turned those matches around and played better and better (after dropping the first set)," Eisner said. "I was really pleased with the effort our players showed."

The only loss Michigan suffered yesterday was at No. 3 doubles, where Raiton and Farah lost a close match to Sutter and Oliver Freelove, 8-6. Third doubles has been an enigmatic position for the Wolverines, but the combination of Raiton and Farah at that position pleased Eisner.

"No. 3 doubles been a question mark for us," Eisner said. "To try to figure out which twosome is going to give us the best performance there has been very difficult. Even though they lost, Raiton and Farah played a very good match."

The victories against key opponents come at a good time for the Wolverines, who have seven Big Ten matches left on the schedule. The win against Illinois also provided a psychological boost for Michigan, said Goldberg.

"The thing that stood out to me today was the competitive spirit of the players," Goldberg said. "Everybody's perseverance, especially in the matches where we were down, that was the difference."