Northwestern University Athletics
1998-99 Men's Tennis Recap
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
June 17, 1999
Faced with the adversity of having only six players on the roster and then having one of those players go down with a sprained ankle late in the season, the men's tennis team rallied for a strong finish to the 1999 season. The Wildcats (11-13) advanced to the Big Ten semifinals for the 11th-straight year, with probably the team's biggest win of the season.
In the final regular season dual match of the year, NU dropped a 6-1 decision at Michigan. Four days later, the Wildcats were back in Ann Arbor for the Big Ten Men's Tennis Championships. Seventh-seeded Northwestern got by Penn State in the first round (4-1), for the right to take on second-seeded Michigan in the quarterfinals. The Wolverines earned the first point of the match, winning two of the three doubles matches. Northwestern stormed back in the singles bracket, winning the final four matches to earn the team victory. Senior Doug Bohaboy defeated Matt Wright at No. 1 singles in a three-set thriller (1-6, 6-3, 6-4). Junior Martin Bengtsson followed suit at No. 2, rallying for a 2-6, 7-6, 6-4 win. Sophomore Derrick Nguyen won in straight sets at No. 3, as did freshman Joost Hol at No. 4. Hol's win clinched the victory for the Wildcats.
The win over Michigan propelled NU into the NCAA Regional Championships at third-seeded Illinois. There, the Wildcats forced all but one singles match to three sets, but in the end the Fighting Illini walked away with a 4-0 victory, proving why they were considered one of the nation's premier teams this season.
Bohaboy capped off an outstanding senior year by earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Singles Championships in Athens, Ga. He won his first round match and finished the season with a 29-16 singles record. He went 8-2 in the Big Ten, while playing at the No. 1 spot and was named the conference's Sportsman of the Year as well as All-Big Ten.
