Michigan senior Ondrej Styler punches ticket to national championship match
The Michigan men's tennis team was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament in the Elite Eight earlier this month, but the individuals took to the court again this week. The men's singles tournament began on Monday, May 22, and Michigan senior Ondrej Styler has put together a fantastic week.
Styler, a Prague, Czech Republic native, has won five matches in five days to punch his ticket to the singles national championship match.
The senior opened the tournament with a win over Southern California's Stefan Dostanic. Ironically, Styler and Dostanic faced off in the team match between U-M and USC just over a week prior. With the teams tied at three points apiece, Styler pulled out a victory in a third-set tiebreaker to help Michigan advance to the Elite Eight.
The most recent meeting between the two star singles players wasn't as tense, as Styler won in straight sets, 7-6 (10), 6-2.
Styler then endured a match similar to the aforementioned team match against Dostanic, when he took on Pepperdine's Daniel De Jonge. Styler and De Jonge split the first two sets, and ultimately the Michigan senior prevailed in a third-set tiebreaker.
The win propelled Styler to the round of 16 where he took on Columbia's Michael Zheng. Similar to Styler, Zheng cruised through his opening match, but struggled in the second-round match.
Although both of the first two sets between Styler and Zheng went to a tiebreaker, Styler narrowly defeated the freshman, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5).
In the round of eight, Styler met the top-ranked college player in the country, Eliot Spizzirri of Texas. Spizzirri played a big part in helping Texas to the final four, but Styler got the best of the No. 1 seed on Thursday with a 6-4, 6-3 upset victory.
On Friday, in the national semifinal, Styler took on Arizona State's Murphy Cassone. Styler showed no signs of fatigue in his fifth match in as many days, as he dominated Cassone from beginning to end, 6-2, 6-1.
Styler is now on his way to the singles national championship match, where he will take on Georgia's Ethan Quinn. Quinn, a 19-year-old redshirt freshman defeated fellow Wolverine Andrew Fenty in the round of eight.
The match is set to begin at 10 a.m. ET on Saturday from Orlando, Florida.
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