University of Michigan Team Page

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Varsity Tennis Center)
Score: #20 Michigan 5, Princeton 2
Records: U-M (3-1), Princeton (1-1)
Attendance: 402
Next U-M Event: Sunday, Feb. 3 -- vs. Wake Forest (Varsity Tennis Center), 11 a.m.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Senior Evan King (Chicago, Ill./Kaplan Prep) claimed a straight-sets upset against No. 2-ranked Matija Pecotic at the No. 1 singles position to help the No. 20-ranked University of Michigan men's tennis team cruise to a 5-2 victory over Princeton on Friday evening (Feb. 1) at the Varsity Tennis Center.

King extended his singles winning streak to seven straight matches with his 6-0, 6-1 decision against Pecotic. The victory over Pecotic gave King a win over the highest ranked opponent of his collegiate career, eclipsing his three-set win against Illinois' No. 4-ranked Dennis Nevolo last April. King is 10-3 overall this season, and he has faced ranked opponents in eight of those 13 matches.

The Wolverines began the dual by taking the doubles point for the third time in four matches, earning victories at the No. 1 and No. 3 positions. After a quick 8-4 victory at the top of the lineup by King and junior Shaun Bernstein (Plainview, N.Y./Plainview Old Bethpage JFK) over the 11th-ranked tandem of Pecotic and Zack McCourt, Michigan's sophomore pairing of Alex Petrone (Staten Island, N.Y./Laurel Springs Prep) and Michael Zhu (Princeton, N.J./Keystone National) clinched the point with an 8-6 decision over Augie Bloom and Matt Siow at No. 3, winning three of the final four games to give the Wolverines a 1-0 lead.

The Wolverines won matches at Nos. 1, 4 and 5 in singles to jump out to a 4-0 advantage and secure the match. After King earned his 61st career dual win, Zhu posted a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Bloom at the No. 4 spot. The match was clinched at No. 5 when junior Barrett Franks (Christchurch, New Zealand/Shirley Boys') knocked off Dan Richardson, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.

Despite the match being clinched, three matches were still ongoing. Petrone quickly gave U-M its fifth win of the dual, notching a 7-6 (4), 6-4 decision over Matt Spindler at No. 3. Shortly thereafter, Sophomore Vlad Stefan (Bucharest, Romania) retired due to injury to give Princeton its first point of the dual.

In the final match on the court, redshirt sophomore Justin Rossi (Novi, Mich./Laurel Springs Prep) fell to Jonathan Carcione at No. 6 in a supertiebreaker.

U-M is back in home action Sunday (Feb. 3, 11 a.m.) against Wake Forest.

Following are match-by-match results:

Singles
No. 1 -- Evan King (U-M) d. No. 2 Matija Pecotic, 6-0, 6-1 (Princeton)
No. 2 -- Zack McCourt (Princeton) d. No. 48 Vlad Stefan (U-M), 6-3, 6-7 (0), 1-1 (retired)
No. 3 -- Alex Petrone (U-M) d. Matt Spindler (Princeton), 7-6 (4), 6-4
No. 4 -- Michael Zhu (U-M) d. Augie Bloom (Princeton), 6-2, 6-3
No. 5 -- Barrett Franks (U-M) d. Dan Richardson (Princeton), 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
No. 6 -- Jonathan Carcione (Princeton) d. Justin Rossi (U-M), 4-6, 6-4, 11-9

Doubles
No. 1 -- No. 30 Evan King/Shaun Bernstein (U-M) d. No. 11 Zack McCourt/Matija Pecotic (Princeton), 8-4
No. 2 -- Dan Davies/Matt Spindler (Princeton) d. Barrett Franks/Alex Buzzi (U-M), 8-1
No. 3 -- Alex Petrone/Michael Zhu (U-M) d. Augie Bloom/Matt Siow (Princeton), 8-6

Order of Completion: Doubles 2-1-3, Singles 1-4-5-3-2-6

Media Contact: Zach Eisendrath (734) 763-4423