A long day of tennis awaited the Illini on Saturday, beginning with a matchup against in-state Big Ten rival Northwestern to start the day.
Junior Mathis Debru and sophomore Kenta Miyoshi set the tone for the day with a 6-4 doubles win over Northwestern’s Greyson Casey and Presley Thieneman. Senior Lucas Horve was paired with freshman Tyler Bowers, and the combination of an experienced upperclassman with an electric newcomer faired well. They took care of their part and dominated Saiprakash Goli and Nick Herdoiza in a quick 6-1 victory.
After taking a one-to-nil lead, Illinois tennis set full steam ahead. Senior captain and No. 40 Hunter Heck took down Thieneman. Bowers persevered through a three-set thriller and defeated Felix Nordby (3-6, 6-2, 6-1). Bowers has shown his flashes of excellence and drive to succeed at Illinois and his development has helped the Illini in their four-match win streak.
With a 3-0 lead, senior Alex Petrov clinched the victory over Gleb Blekher. Even with the match over, Miyoshi, Horve and freshman Jeremy Zhang finished up their matches. Illinois did not lose a single match and ended at 7-0.
Even with a win on the belt for the day, only half of the battle had been fought. Up next was Saint Louis University, and Illinois’ winning strategy did not fail.
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For doubles, Horve and Bowers wiped out the Bilikins’ duo of Declan Townsend and Theo Ortis (6-1). Debru and Petrov followed suit, clinching doubles with a 6-1 win against Jonathan Sadowski and Sebastian Munoz. Even with Heck and junior Karlis Ozolins not leading doubles, Illinois continued to clinch the points.
As singles began, Heck was consistent with his prowess, sweeping SLU’s Luca Lo Nardo (6-0, 6-0), prepping him for the Big Ten tournament next weekend.
With a 2-0 lead at this point in the day, Illinois wasted no time finishing off the opponents. Zhang continued to be on his A-game as he won in straight sets (6-2, 6-2). Debru clinched the match after he defeated Sadowski in straight sets (6-2, 6-4). Similar to earlier against Northwestern, Petrov, Miyoshi and Bowers played out their matches.
Illinois did not lose a single match during the entire day, ending a perfect 14-0.
“It was a great day of tennis,” head coach Brad Dancer said following the matches. “We responded well on courts that we lost the first sets against Northwestern and I think that shows some maturity from our guys. It was a day of growing and a step forward, and that’s where we want our guys to be this time of the season. We gotta keep moving forward and not slide back, and that’s our challenge for this week.”
Next up, the Illini will face Purdue on April 19, Indiana on April 21 and then will head to Evanston for the Big Ten Tournament on April 25. There’s hope Illinois will carry on the momentum during this end-of-season push.
