Aleks Vukic earns Big Ten Tennis Athlete of the Week award
Illinois’ Aleks Vukic gets ready to return the ball during the match against Wisconsin at the Atkin’s Tennis Center on Sunday, April 3.
April 12, 2017
Tuesday afternoon Aleks Vukic was named the Big Ten Men’s Tennis Athlete of the Week after winning all of his singles and doubles competitions last weekend.
This is the fourth time the junior has won the weekly award this season.
Vukic defeated Iowa’s Kareem Allaf 6-1, 6-2 and Nebraska’s Toby Boyer 6-3, 6-2.
In doubles play, Vukic, alongside freshman Vuk Budic, earned Illinois a point against Iowa with a 7-4 victory over Robin Haden and Jake Jacoby. On Sunday, the pair defeated Nebraska’s Dylan Bednarczyk and Toby Boyer 7-3 in a tiebreaker to again clinch the doubles point.
The Australia native earned his first Big Ten tennis title as a freshman and finished that season 45-5 in singles play, setting the University record for the most in-season victories.
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As a sophomore, Vukic finished the Big Ten season with a perfect 8-0 record in singles play and a 25-5 overall singles record.
He advanced to the 2016 NCAA singles quarterfinals in Tulsa, Oklahoma later that season.
Vukic is currently on a 15-match winning streak – the fifth-best streak in Illini history and a tie with his own record from his freshman season.
