Taking the courts for the first time since November, the Michigan men's tennis team traveled to Wisconsin this past week for the Milwaukee Tennis Classic.
"The main purpose of this tournament is to get back playing tennis," Michigan assistant coach Dan Goldberg said. "After being off for quite a while, I think we were all pretty pleased with our results."
The Milwaukee Classic, hosted by Marquette University, is an individual tournament played at 10 separate local tennis clubs. Michigan sent eight players to the classic, competing in both singles and doubles draws.
In singles play, junior David Paradzik and freshman Matt Wright both won their first two matches before both losing in the round of 32. Wright fell to Stanford standout Ryan Wolters, who was the eventual singles champion from that draw.
"Matt was excellent," Goldberg said. "He is a very strong player, who is just seeing how he is capable of playing and realizing his potential. A lot of freshmen come into these tournaments a little apprehensive, but Matt is very confident, and he is only going to get better."
Also in singles play, junior Arvid Swan, who lost in the first round to third-seed Thomas Blake from Harvard, succeeded in the consolation draw, surviving to the finals, until he fell to Illinios' Jakub Telpy, 4-6, 3-6. Telpy had entered the consolation draw after losing in the first round of the main draw to Michigan freshman Brad McFarland in three sets.
Michigan sophomore Jake Raiton, who had been sidelined earlier this season because of shoulder surgery over the summer, made his return for the Wolverines in the singles draw. He won his first match in three sets, before losing to Tyler Jimenez of Texas Tech.
"Jake did a really nice job coming back in his first competition," Goldberg said. "We were a little uncertain how he would be, but he played well and is right there with the rest of the team again."
In doubles play, all four Michigan teams won their first-round matches.
"The brightest spot for us at the tournament may have been the play of our doubles teams," Goldberg said. "We lost a couple of tight matches, but really we thought everyone played great."
Junior Brook Blain, teaming with Wright, were the Wolverines' most successful duo. They survived until the third round, where they fell to a pair from BYU in three sets.
Goldberg said that the team was testing new doubles pairing at the Classic. Three of Michigan's four doubles team were playing together for the first time.
McFarland, who had originally been Wright's doubles partner, paired with Swan for the first time and lost in the second round. Despite losing early, McFarland felt the new pairing worked well at the Classic.
"Just about everyone on the team is so close in talent, it's hard to figure out who teams up best together," McFarland said. "Coach was trying new combinations to see who clicked best. The results weren't great, but everyone played well together and all the losses came to very good teams. I think everyone liked who they played with, and it is just a matter of time until everyone is totally comfortable."
JOSH BIGGS/Daily
Michigan sophomore Jake Raiton returned to action this weekend after having been sidelines with a shoulder injury earlier in the season.