Sophomore Ruben Gonzales has had a rough spring, losing a few more singles matches than he would have liked. On Saturday, though, when the Illinois men’s tennis team desperately needed an extra point, Gonzales delivered.

Gonzales fended off upset-minded Wisconsin by clinching his match at No. 3 singles for the Illini. He defeated the Badgers’ Lachezar Kasarov 6-2, 6-7, 6-2, helping Illinois to a 4-3 win.

“Ruben did a great job of not treating it any differently than any other match,” said Illinois head coach Brad Dancer of the deciding victory. “He always goes out and gives it his all and does a great job.”

One of the reasons Gonzales said he was able to perform so well under the pressure was because he did not realize how important his win would be for the team. It is the first time Gonzales has clinched a match for Illinois when the score has been tied at three points a piece.

“I didn’t know until the end that I was going to clinch the match,” Gonzales said.

Illinois senior Pramod Dabir said Gonzales’ singles success this weekend is promising because the Illini will face many more high-pressure situations as the season progresses, especially during the Big Ten and NCAA Championships.

Dabir and fellow senior Ryler DeHeart also picked up singles wins in the close Saturday match. Dabir defeated Gian Hodgson 3-6, 6-2, 6-2. DeHeart beat reigning Big Ten Tennis Player of the Week Jeremy Sonkin 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. Sonkin has won three Big Ten Tennis Player of the Week awards this season.

“We didn’t play well and they came out fired up to beat us,” Dabir said. “We needed to pull it out at the end.”

Gonzales continued his winning ways Sunday against Northwestern. He and junior GD Jones clinched the doubles point for Illinois, beating Juan Gomez and Marc Dwyer, 8-4.

“GD and I have never played together,” Gonzales said. “After we got our rhythm going, we were fine.”

Poor weather conditions forced the match, which began outdoors, inside. Although the indoor courts were faster, Jones said the Illini adjusted well to the conditions. The Illini defeated the Wildcats, 6-1.

Illinois is now 18-5 overall and 7-1 in the Big Ten. Indiana upset Minnesota during the weekend, putting Illinois in second place in the conference as the only team with just one loss. The Illini host the Golden Gophers on Saturday at the Atkins Tennis Center. Ohio State, with no losses, is first in the Big Ten.

“We had a good effort this weekend and tremendous leadership from the seniors,” Dancer said. “We had our backs against the wall (against Wisconsin), but we came out on top.”