KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan men's tennis team kept alive a 13-year-old streak of success against the Big Ten with a thrilling finish at home on Saturday, as the Broncos defeated the 60th-ranked Michigan State Spartans 4-3 at West Hills Athletic Club to notch their sixth straight win. The victory improves the Broncos to 8-3 on the season. WMU has now beaten at least one Big Ten school in each of the last 13 seasons.
The match came down to the final two singles matches on the court, with the Broncos' top two spots in the line-up closing out the win. The Broncos won four of the six singles matches played on Saturday, coming back from a 1-0 deficit after doubles play to secure victory. Freshman Jefta Kecic clinched the win by recovering from a second-set loss to beat the Spartans' Brett Forman 6-3, 5-7, 6-1 in the No. 1 singles match, punctuating the comeback with a dominant third set.
Fellow freshman Maik Steiner put Kecic in the position to win the match by coming back from his own deficit, bouncing back from being a set down to down 109th-ranked Gijs Linders 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 in the No. 2 singles match. That turned what had been a 3-2 match advantage for the Spartans into a 3-3 tie, allowing Kecic to finish things off at the top of the line-up.
Jimmy Beckwith got things rolling in singles play with a straight-sets win over Jasper Koenen at No. 5 singles, winning 6-3, 6-1 to tie the overall match. Following him was Matt Hamilton, who cruised to a 6-3, 6-3 win over John Patrick Mullane at the No. 3 spot to put the Broncos ahead by a 2-1 score. Hamilton was also part of the only winning doubles team for the Broncos, teaming with Stephen Payne to down Forman and Linders 6-1.
Western Michigan 4, #60 Michigan State 3
Singles competition
1. Maik Steiner (WMU) def. #109 Gijs Linders (MSU) 5-7, 6-3, 6-2
2. Jefta Kecic (WMU) def. Brett Forman (MSU) 6-3, 5-7, 6-1
3. Matt Hamilton (WMU) def. John Patrick Mullane (MSU) 6-3, 6-3
4. #100 Harry Jadun (MSU) def. Ruben Greiner (WMU) 7-5, 6-4
5. Jimmy Beckwith (WMU) def. Jasper Koenen (MSU) 6-3, 6-1
6. Michael Dube (MSU) def. Stephen Payne (WMU) 6-4, 7-5
Doubles competition
1. #43 John Patrick Mullane/Harry Jadun (MSU) def. Ruben Greiner/Maik Steiner (WMU) 6-1
2. Stephen Payne/Matt Hamilton (WMU) def. Brett Forman/Gijs Linders (MSU) 6-1
3. Doug Zade/Jasper Koenen (MSU) def. Jefta Kecic/Jimmy Beckwith (WMU) 6-4
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (5,3,6,4,1,2)
