The Illinois men’s tennis team enters this weekend as one of only two teams with just one loss in the Big Ten, and it does not look like that will change.

The No. 5 Illini face unranked Wisconsin on Saturday before traveling to No. 61 Northwestern on Sunday.

Although many would expect the Illini to win the matches handily, they are determined to remain focused on the matches in front of them.

“You have to stay focused on your performance and be excellent in your performance,” said Illinois head coach Brad Dancer. “If you’re focused on your own excellence, then you’re just playing ball at that point.”

Northwestern is fifth-ranked in the Big Ten with a 4-3 record in conference competition, while Wisconsin has just two wins and are ranked ninth out of the 11 Big Ten teams.

Still, Illinois senior Ryler DeHeart said the Illini, who are 5-1 in the Big Ten and 15-5 overall, will not be complacent. Wisconsin is led by Jeremy Sonkin, who has earned Big Ten Player of the Week awards three times this season. He is also the reigning Big Ten Player of the Week.

“You have to respect all of your opponents, regardless of what they are ranked in the Big Ten,” DeHeart said. “Obviously, we are playing them because they deserve a chance to beat us.”

The team is still focusing on recovering from two tough losses to Stanford and Ohio State. DeHeart said he would like to see the team come out with the same intensity as if it were playing a top-ranked team each time.

“We talked about how we need to move forward from here, turn our losses around and get back to where we were before,” DeHeart said.

After the team’s win against Kentucky on Wednesday night, Illinois sophomore Ruben Gonzales said the team gained some much-needed momentum.

“We’re all starting to improve our games a lot and get better,” Gonzales said.

Illinois was able to jump out to an early win after clinching the doubles point at Kentucky and would like to do the same during each of their noon matches.

“We all have things that we are working on in our games,” Illinois junior GD Jones said. “And we are trying to put the improvements into the matches.”

The junior is focusing on hitting the ball cleaner, after struggling through some matches this season.

The Illini will also have to focus on getting healthier this weekend. Dancer said he would like to see sophomore Kevin Anderson compete without aggravating any injuries.

“We try to get up for every match,” Gonzales said. “And we try to take care of business.”