Mid-American Conference

MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE ANNOUNCES MEN’S TENNIS PLAYER AND DOUBLES TEAM OF THE WEEK
 
MAC Men’s Tennis Singles Player of the Week
Jannik Opitz, Western Michigan – Junior, Hildesheim, Germany (Josephinum Hildesheim)
Western Michigan junior co-captain Jannik Opitz at No. 1 singles went 1-1 on the weekend in Minneapolis, Minn. Against Wichita State on Saturday, Opitz won his fourth consecutive singles match, defeating the Shockers’ Murkell Dellien 6-1, 4-6, 6-2, who owns an impressive 13.27 UTR rating. On Sunday at the No. 22-ranked Minnesota, Opitz fell on court one to Josip Krstanovic, who is ranked 53rd in the nation by the ITA.  Opitz is a finance major.
 
Additional Men’s Singles Nominees:
Danilo Kovacevic, Ball State – Freshman, Park Ridge, Ill. (Main South High School)
Ball State freshman Danilo Kovacevic at No. 3 singles helped the Cardinals to a 4-3 win over Wright State this past weekend. Kovacevic took down the Raiders Lorenzo Maccarini 7-6, 6-3 on court three. With the win, the true freshman improved to 3-3 overall this spring in dual action. 
 
Vilhelm Fridell, Buffalo – Junior, Gothenburg, Sweden (ProCivitas Privata Gymnasium)
Buffalo junior Vilhelm Fridell at No. 1 singles won his lone match of the week as he came away with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Freddie Zaretsky of Quinnipiac. Overall, it was one of six victories in singles for Buffalo as they swept Quinnipiac 7-0 on Sunday.
 
 
MAC Men’s Tennis Doubles Team of the Week
Jannik Opitz, Western Michigan – Junior, Hildesheim, Germany (Josephinum Hildesheim)
Kennosuke Nouchi, Western Michigan – Junior, Kashima, Japan (Kashima Gakuen)
 
Western Michigan junior Jannik Opitz and junior Kennosuke Nouchi at No. 1 doubles went 2-0 on the weekend in the 5-2 win over Wichita State and the 6-1 loss at No. 22-ranked Minnesota. They took down the Shockers’ Murkel Dellien / Haru Inoue 7-5 prior to winning 6-4 over the Gophers’ top duo of Josip Krstanovic/Justyn Levin to improve to 4-1 in 2019. Opitz is a finance major, while Nouchi is a management major.
 
Additional Men’s Doubles Teams of the Week Nominees:
Hao Sheng Koay, Buffalo – Junior, Kangar, Malaysia (SMK Seri Hartamas)
Ethan Nittolo, Buffalo – Senior, Flushing, N.Y. (Townsend Harris High School)
 
Buffalo junior Hao Sheng Koay and senior Ethan Nittolo at No. 2 doubles were dominant during Buffalo’s lone match of the week as they swept Freddie Zaretsky and Alester Magalit of Quinnipiac, 6-0. The victory helped Buffalo clinch the doubles points, and ultimately leading to a 7-0 victory over the Bobcats.
 
Luka Vitosevic, Toledo – Senior, Belgrade, Serbia (Sportska Gimnazija)
Omar Espinosa, Toledo – Senior, Queretaro, Mexico (Cobaq)
 
Toledo senior Luka Vitosevic and senior Omar Espinosa at No. 1 doubles went 2-0 over the weekend, dominating in both matches.  Vistosevic and Espinosa defeated Youngstown State’s Danylo Veremeichuk and Joao Garretto 6-2 on Friday, Feb. 15 and went on to defeat Duquesne’s Dane Bendel and Chris Corrao 6-1 on Sunday, Feb. 17.  Vitosevic is a computer science and engineering major, while Espinosa is a civil engineering major.