It was an eventful offseason for Illinois men’s tennis, both past and present. While school was out of session, former Illini Rajeev Ram, Aleks Kovacevic and Aleks Vukic made runs at the US Open. Vukic bowed out of the men’s singles bracket in the first round, Ram made it to the quarterfinals in men’s doubles and Kovacevic got all the way to the mixed doubles semifinal with teammate Tyra Caterina Grant.
Ram was also at the 2024 Summer Olympics and won silver in men’s doubles with Austin Krajicek. This marked Ram’s first medal since earning the mixed doubles silver medal in 2016 alongside Venus Williams.
“Once these guys turn pros, we’re providing continued mentorship and guidance, but at the same time, or more than anything else, become fans to them,” head coach Brad Dancer said. “They know we’re in their corner, and know that we’re supporting them all the way through. Our community support is really big there as well. Those guys come to town and sometimes train with us and, of course, everybody wants to pop over for dinner and connect with them.”
Meanwhile, the current team saw continued success from familiar faces. In August alone, senior Mathis Debru grabbed the senior men’s singles title at the Chamonix Open Tournament and junior Kenta Miyoshi won his second straight singles championship at the ITA National Summer Championships.
Competing during the offseason may seem like it comes with the disadvantage of the team being out of season, but Dancer says they made full use of voluntary practice this summer.
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“As long as it’s voluntary, it’s unlimited,” Dancer explained. “Our guys are here in town (during summer). We spend a lot of time with them. There’s no restrictions in terms of what we can do, as long as, again, we’re not mandating it. So during the summertime, we get a lot of time with our guys.”
Illinois’ first official action of the season will come this Thursday, with senior Karlis Ozolins and Miyoshi heading to San Francisco for the Battle in the Bay Classic. This will be Ozolins’ second straight year competing in the event after advancing to the singles quarterfinals last year. Ozolins will be back in the singles bracket this year as the tournament’s No. 2 seed, while Miyoshi makes his debut seeded at No. 5-8. As a duo, Ozolins and Miyoshi will headline the doubles bracket as the No. 2 seed.
Two more Illini will be underway in Louisville just 24 hours later: redshirt junior Gabrielius Guzauskas and redshirt freshman Zach Viiala. Illinois did not bring in any freshman this season, making Viiala the least-tenured athlete on the team due to his January arrival earlier this year. Due to arriving midseason, Viiala redshirted last year and will make his collegiate debut for Illinois in Louisville. Conversely, Guzauskas will be suiting up for Illinois for the first time since 2022-23. A rare junior year redshirt, Guzauskas did not play at all in 2023-24 despite starting his Illinois career with an impressive 15-6 singles record in 2021-22.
“He (Guzauskas) was a mainstay in our lineup as a freshman,” Dancer said. “He had knee surgery between the summer of his freshman and sophomore year and I think that set him back a little bit. Now he’s in a place where he’s much healthier. He’s in a better, not only physical space but a better mental space as well. I hate to put pressure on him, but we’ve got high expectations for Gabe in terms of what he can do for himself this fall and then for the team in springtime.”
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