Beginning with senior Emily Casati battling her way out of the qualifying draw and ending with a historic doubles regional championship, last weekend’s trip to Ann Arbor went just about as well as any Illinois women’s tennis fan could’ve hoped for. Energized by their dominant run in the previous leg, junior Kate Duong and sophomore Megan Heuser are headed to San Diego for the ITA National Championships.

Beginning on Wednesday with 32 duos and ending on Sunday with a champion, Duong and Heuser will only be asked to play in one match per day, a considerably smaller workload than they have been used to this season. With the increase in competition, the increase in rest is much needed.

Also headed to San Diego is head coach Evan Clark, who believed going into regionals that this was the most prepared Illinois had been since becoming head coach in 2016. Lo and behold, this year’s regional was the most successful for the Illini since 2012. Ahead of Nationals, Clark believes the biggest key to success for the duo is staying true to what they know.

“Staying solid and being consistent is what worked well for them at regionals,” Clark said. “We are at this elite event where everybody is really good so we’ve talked about not trying to overplay and be someone you’re not. Playing our best tennis and being solid is gonna be good enough”

Going into this event Duong and Heuser are most certainly underdogs, but this is not an unfamiliar feeling for the duo. As recently as last weekend and as far back as they can remember, Duong and Heuser have thrived as underdogs. Duong in particular believes that not only does it make winning feel that much more gratifying, but the lack of expectations works in her favor on the court.

“Absolutely, I love being an underdog,” Duong said. “It takes most of the pressure off because you’re playing free. There’s no expectations on you which makes you play your best tennis. Having that mentality is always the best coming into a match because you never want to underestimate your opponent.”

Since Heuser’s arrival at Illinois last year, the duo has competed together an impressive number of times. Sharing the No. 1 court in the spring season and teaming up numerous times in the fall season, Duong and Heuser work to become more in sync each time. For Heuser, the chemistry she has built with Duong on and off the court is a major factor behind their success.

“It’s definitely a good bond and relationship that we have to trust each other on the court,” Heuser said. “How close our friendship is off of the court is something that is pretty cool to see. We are able to use that bond to be able to connect and win matches.”

Kate Duong and Megan Heuser kick off their run for the ITA National Championship this Wednesday, looking to take care of business for the second week in a row.

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