While Michigan fans paid at least some attention to the football spring game, B10 second-place Michigan men's tennis was in a dogfight with eighth-place Nebraska on April 14. Michigan won in a close 4-3 decision. Chart? Chart.

Team and Court	Score
King/Bernstein 1	4—8
Franks/Buzzi 2	9—8(9)
Petrone/Zhu 3	8—4

Name and Court	Set 1	Set 2	Set 3
Evan King 1	6—3	6—1
Alex Petrone 2	5—7	3—6
Michael Zhu 3	3—6	2—6
Barrett Franks 4	6—1	6—1
Alex Buzzi 5	7—6(4)	6—3
Eli Brown 6	5—7	6—2	0—1(5)

Our newly promoted freshmen took some lumps on 2 and 3 court. Zhu on 3 was the first to fall, but Franks made up the difference with a commanding 6-1, 6-1 victory on 4 court. I love seeing Franks play these days, with his confidence and fine placement. King won on 1 and Buzzi won on 5, securing the dual-match victory. Unfortunately fabulous freshman Petrone lost on 2, and Brown dropped the super-tiebreaker set on 6 court. Brown has been dealing with the same issue throughout the season: his first serves do not get in! It cannot be overstated how important it is to get first serves in tennis; the psychological pressure is tenfold greater. Bernstein cannot return to the singles courts fast enough.

In doubles Nebraska pursued a fairly aggressive strategy, with hard serves down the middle of the court and lots of double net-rushes. King/Bernstein fell on 1 court but Franks/Buzzi and Petrone/Zhu held firm on 2 and 3 to secure the doubles point, which eventually clinched the match for Michigan. Nebraska stayed aggressive in singles play but did not have quite enough good shots to win against Michigan.

The match was a quick one, finished in only three hours. All singles matches were decided in straight sets except Brown's super-tiebreaker on 6 court.

On April 15 #22 Michigan welcomed last-place Iowa to the VTC and duly crushed the Hawkeyes. Chart? Chart.

Team and Court	Score
King/Bernstein 1	7—8(2)
Franks/Buzzi 2	8—2
Petrone/Zhu 3	8—3

Name and Court	Set 1	Set 2	Set 3
Evan King 1	6—2	6—2
Alex Petrone 2	6—1	6—4
Michael Zhu 3	6—3	6—7(7)	1—0(6)
Barrett Franks 4	6—4	4—6	0—1(5)
Alex Buzzi 5	6—2	6—2
Eli Brown 6	6—4	6—3

Probably the most interesting takeaway from this match was the second straight defeat for King/Bernstein in doubles. This was an interesting matchup. Michigan had already clinched the doubles point by winning handily on 2 and 3 courts. At that time the 1 court matchup was tied 7-7 with no breaks(!) to speak of in the match so far. The players agreed to go straight to the tiebreaker, which is usually played when the game is tied 8-8. Unfortunately Bernstein's goofy underhanded doubles serve was predictable, and Iowa's players figured out the pattern and pulled out the tiebreaker. The man at the net would poach and smash Bernstein's shots, or the return man would get a great return on his serve.

Only Franks lost in singles, in the third set super-tiebreaker. Even Brown managed to win his game in straight sets! This game tells us little about what we can expect for the rest of the regular season but I will attempt to predict what the next two matches hold for Michigan. The last time we saw them in action (April 15), Penn State lost 6-1 at home to the Fighting Illini. Thus, Michigan can comfortably expect to win when they play Penn State at home on the 20^th. I predict a 6-1 victory with Brown or Zhu losing in singles.

Ohio...hoo boy. By shutting out Purdue 7-0 in West Lafayette on the 18^th, #3 Ohio has clinched a share of the B10 title for the eighth consecutive season. All singles matches were won in straight sets, and Ohio won all of the doubles matches. The Bobcats currently sit at 10-0 in the B10, and Michigan is at 8-1. Only by winning their last two matches, including on the road in Columbus, could Michigan share the B10 regular season title. This is a tremendous opportunity for Michigan men's tennis; they have not been in a position to win the conference since at least the 1990s. I predict Michigan will put up a fight but fall 5-2. King will win, and possibly Buzzi.