This Friday to Sunday, Illinois men’s tennis attempt to have another successful tournament in Tennessee, this time in Nashville.

After a successful trip to Knoxville last time out, the team will be competing to continue their good start to the season. Illini graduate student Nic Meister, freshman Kenta Miyoshi and sophomore Mathis Debru are competing these next three days. 

Meister looks forward to adding onto his four wins so far this season and is hopeful to do so at the Commodore Invite.

“Consistently playing well adds a lot of confidence,” Meister said. “Just playing in general, the more you play the easier it is to go to another tournament and feel like you’re in a rhythm.”

In what will be his last season, Meister is looking for a solid campaign. So far, he’s off to a great start individually and wants to keep playing great as the team continues to improve over the course of this season. That starts with forming bonds with some of the new players.

“Being a fifth year and one of the leaders on the team, one of my main goals is to have a good solid relationship with everyone on the team,” Meister said.

It was clear that the Knoxville Showdown was a great preparation for this tournament, and it’s also clear that already the team is starting to gel together. 

Meister mentioned how the team wants to take the season one day at a time, but they’re all excited to see what they’ll accomplish by the end of this season.

“I think I enjoy the overall energy pick up once you’re preparing for matches and knowing that you have something that you’re training for and to compete for on the weekends,” Meister said. “There’s just an overall extra intensity that goes along with that and I just enjoy that and being in that environment.”

The team will be competing over the course of the next three days in Nashville, starting off Friday and ending Sunday.

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