The sophomores on the Michigan men’s tennis team started the weekend off with a bang, winning the Big Ten Individuals doubles championships in Iowa City. The Wolverines' three freshman participants didn't lag far behind, as each advanced deep into the singles draw.

A year ago, then-freshmen Barrett Franks and Justin Rossi teamed together to win the top doubles draw at the same tournament. On Friday, Franks defended his title with fellow sophomore Alex Buzzi.

After beating a pair from Purdue in the first round, Buzzi and Franks had their backs against the wall against Iowa’s Marc Bruche and Will Vasos. Trailing 7-4, the Wolverine duo rallied to send the match into a tiebreaker at 8-8. Down match point, Buzzi ripped a winner down the line and past the Iowa player at the net to stave off the Hawkeyes.

A point later, Buzzi and Franks were down match point yet again. This time, Buzzi used his quick hands and won a volley exchange at the net. The pair shortly closed out the Hawkeyes, 9-8.

“They played great tennis on those key points,” said Michigan coach Bruce Berque. “But there was a little bit of luck involved too because if you put your backs against the wall like that, everything is not always under your control. But they did the right things and it really paid off.”

Franks and Buzzi built on their momentum from their semifinal against Roy Kopinski and Stephen Hoh from Illinois. They beat the Illini pair, 8-5, in the semifinals, setting up a match against a duo from Michigan State in the finals. Berque said the great success they had can be attributed to consistent team energy and great serving, especially from Buzzi.

The Wolverines' only representatives in the ‘A’ Doubles Draw continued to represent Michigan well. Franks and Buzzi cruised past the Spartan pair of Austin Brooks and Aaron Pfister, 8-4, in the finals, winning their fourth consecutive match of the day en route to a Big Ten doubles title.

“They’re friends and they enjoy playing with each other, so I think that gives them a good reason to think that they could be a strong team,” Berque said. “There’s reason that they could stay together, but more importantly it’s just that they played better doubles.”

In singles on Saturday, the Michigan freshmen stole the show. Franks and Buzzi defeated Michigan State players in the first round, but were both unable to advance past the second round. But their freshmen teammates, Michael Zhu, Eli Brown, and Petrone, all moved on to the third round.

Brown lost only four games in every one of his sets, as he defeated players from Penn State and Michigan State, 6-4, 6-4, in both matches. He earned his first win career win as a Wolverine in singles.

“Brown was working really hard at getting better and he beat two good players,” Berque said. “He laid out everything he had on the court, and he has been working hard to get in better physical shape and manage his mistakes a little better. (Brown) was able to do that pretty effectively on Saturday.”

Petrone was the second to advance through to the third round without dropping a set. He even beat an opponent from Purdue without losing a single game.

Zhu also advanced to the third round, but he had more trouble doing so despite an easy first match victory. In Zhu’s second match, he won the first set against Tom Mroziewicz from Iowa handily, but he was unable to close out the match in two sets. Despite sending the match to a third set, Mroziewicz was overmatched in the decisive third set and lost it 6-1.

“Zhu has improved competitively — he's trying to learn to be real positive and manage his emotions better when things aren’t going well and I think he did a good job of that this week,” Berque said.

In the past, Zhu has let his emotions get the best of him, but not this weekend. On Sunday, Zhu was the only of his freshmen teammates to win a match. Against the Illinois No. 8 seed Bruno Abdelnour, Zhu won the first set easily, before closing out the match in a tiebreaker in the second set.

Zhu’s good fortune stopped there after he was eliminated by Michigan State in straight sets. Petrone’s tournament was also ended by a Spartan on Sunday, as he fell to Aaron Pfister 6-4, 6-4 in the third round. Brown was the third Wolverine eliminated on Sunday, as he was unable to avenge Buzzi’s second round loss.

Despite not advancing to Monday’s quarterfinals, the impact the freshmen had on this tournament will be noticed.