Illinois men’s tennis looks to end their fall schedule on a positive note with its final two tournaments of the schedule this weekend. Illinois will participate in the Gator Fall Invite hosted by the University of Florida and the Big Ten Singles Championships hosted at the University of Michigan. 

Illinois will have freshman Kenta Miyoshi, junior Hunter Heck, graduate student Oliver Okonkwo and junior Alex Petrov all compete at the Gator Fall Invite. Freshman Tyler Bowers, sophomore Mathis Debru, sophomore William Mroz, graduate student Nic Meister, sophomore Gabrielius Guzauskas and junior Lucas Horve will be competing at the Big Ten Singles Championship tournament in Ann Arbor. 

After being out of action since October, Debru is going into this weekend with a strong mindset and determination to end the fall schedule on top. 

“I’m ready to give everything on the court and fight for the Illini,” Debru said. “I feel like there is a really good team chemistry here, everyone is pretty close to each other. We have good communication (with the coaches).”

These tournaments concluding the fall schedule means that the spring schedule is right around the corner. All the work put into the fall schedule carries over into what gets accomplished in the spring schedule.

“I feel like everyone is improving in practice, we’re pushing each other, and I’m excited for the spring,” stated Debru.

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