The Iowa men’s No. 72 tennis team closed out its regular season with two losses, to No. 22 Michigan  on April 22 (4-0) and to Michigan State on Sunday (4-3).

Hawkeye sophomores Lefteris Theodorou and Josh Silverstein lost a close doubles match to Alex Knight and Runhao Hua (7-5). Then senior Dominic Patrick and junior Nils Hallestrand teamed up for the first time this season and lost (6-3), the deciding point for the doubles point.

The Wolverines’ dominance continued in singles.

Patrick lost to Davis Crocker (6-1, 6-1), and Theodorou was then defeated by Carter Lin (6-4, 6-2). Junior Robin Haden was the last Hawkeye to finish his match, losing to Hua (6-3, 6-1).

Then the Hawkeyes set off to East Lansing to face their final opponent of the regular season on Sunday, the Spartans.

The Hawkeyes started off the match by winning the doubles point. Theodorou and Silverstein defeated Mac Roy and Jasper Koenen (6-0). Then sophomore Jake Jacoby and freshman Jonas Larsen defeated Alexander Kim and Billy Shisler (6-2).

The Hawkeyes scored two more victories in singles. Theodorou defeated Michael Dube (6-2, 6-3), and Jacoby defeated Ivan Rakic (6-3, 3-6, 6-1).

Unfortunately, that was the end of the Hawkeye victories.

Silverstein, Haden, Hallestrand were defeated in their matches. Larsen was the last Hawkeye to go down, losing in a third-set tiebreaker (3-6, 6-4, 7-6).

The Hawkeyes concluded the regular season 11-16, 1-11 in the Big Ten. The Hawkeyes’ last win against a Big Ten opponent was on March 27 and since that point, the Hawkeyes have dropped eight-straight.

Iowa isn’t quite finished just yet; the Hawkeyes will travel to Minneapolis for the Big Ten Tournament Thursday through May 1.
— by Nicholas Moreano