Along with the sudden cancellation of the spring season, the Illinois men’s tennis team has been preparing for further event postponement, including the possibility of fall competition being canceled or delayed. This likely includes the cancellation of summer training and conditioning events.

Head coach Brad Dancer spoke about the unpredictable nature of the future.

“I think, right now, in all of our conversations, we understand change is going to happen,” Dancer said.

Dancer has been discussing possible regional events to keep players involved with the sport, saying he has even discussed such events with coaches in the area. Dancer says these events would be “really cost-efficient and still be tremendous experiences for the student athletes.”

Dancer has also been navigating through certain seniors returning to Illinois next year after the NCAA granted an extra year of eligibility to spring season athletes. Vuk Budic and Noe Khlif, the latter of which redshirted this past season, have both announced they will return to the program while both working on graduate degrees in accountancy. Dancer said former All-American Aleks Kovacevic has not yet decided on his return to Champaign, as he’s “working through some logistics with school and everything else, trying to figure out what’s his best plan of action for next year.”

Dancer also said senior Zeke Clark is also still considering the situation and is deciding whether to come back for the entire year or only the spring season.

Junior Alex Brown said the sudden change was “really weird and tough” to have to move back to his home in Iowa during a time when he would normally be traveling around the country for Big Ten regular-season play.

Brown also says he has been able to maintain similar levels of conditioning at home, but “nothing as extensive as I could do at Illinois.” Brown says he has been able to practice a bit with his family, as well as Khlif, a native of France, who temporarily came to live with Brown and his family.

Brown was recently named an Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-American for the past season, one of 20 Division I players in the nation to receive the honor. Brown saw a career-high singles ranking of No. 9 this season, ending the season at No. 15. Brown’s honor marks the seventh straight season at least one Illini player has been named an All-American. Brown was disappointed his marquee season was prematurely ended.

“At first I was pretty bummed,” Brown said. “I was starting to play better and better as the season went on. Now, I’m pretty much just focused on doing whatever I can to be ready for next year.”

Brown also noted the unprecedented nature of the possible end of his time with his senior teammates, as he played with them for three years before having this season abruptly ended. He also recognizes the effect the fall season has on the development of younger players, specifically freshmen.

“For me, and I know a couple other people, right when we got there and started playing in the fall, it helped us a lot,” Brown said. “It prepared us really well for the main spring season. I would think that it would help all the freshmen that come in to be there in the fall.”

Brown expects for there to be little to no dropoff in his performance in the fall, despite having a greatly extended offseason.

“I’m sure there’ll be some rust,” Brown said. “As long as I stay in good shape, I feel like I’m competitive enough where I’ll be able to get playing well again within a week or two of coming back full-time and on campus. So, I’m not too worried about it.”

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