Just two weeks into the season, Illinois men’s tennis is set to face one of its most important competitions of the fall slate. A pair of redshirt juniors, Gabrielius Guzauskas and William Mroz, will be in Tulsa, Oklahoma for pre-qualifying action at the ITA All-American Championships. Junior Kenta Miyoshi will join the two to participate in the main draw.
Guzauskas and Mroz have their work cut out for them, as the pre-qualifying draw feeds into the qualifying draw, which feeds into the main draw. The tournament as a whole is one of four qualifying events for the NCAA singles and doubles championships. A player can earn a bid by advancing to the singles draw quarterfinals or the doubles draw semifinals. The top two consolation finishes in the singles bracket will also receive a bid. Pre-qualifying action will begin on Sept. 21 while the main draw will wrap up on Sept. 29.
Mroz will be making his season debut for Illinois but is the preseason No. 36 doubles with senior Karlis Ozolins. Guzauskas’ season started last weekend, where he made it to the singles draw finals at the Louisville Invitational.
Meanwhile, head coach Brad Dancer will be accompanying senior Mathis Debru, redshirt sophomore Tyler Bowers, sophomore Jeremy Zhang and redshirt freshman Zach Viiala to Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard’s Chowderfest will feature athletes from Boise State, Boston College, Cornell, Notre Dame, SMU and Yale. The Sept. 20-22 event also marks the season opener for the hosting team.
Three of the four will be making their season debuts, as Viiala played at the Louisville Invitational last weekend. Viiala made his collegiate debut in Louisville, totaling a 3-1 record in singles and 1-1 in doubles partnered with Guzauskas.
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While the stakes aren’t as high in Cambridge, Dancer explained that every opportunity is valuable in the fall. Whether it be qualifying for a more prestigious event or increasing a ranking, there is always something to gain.
“It’s really about either trying to get into the NCAA championships or you’re essentially playing matches to increase your ranking,” Dancer noted. “All of these matches count towards their ranking. You’re trying to get in really the sharpest spot possible so that when you go to an All-Americans or regionals, or one of these NCAA qualifying events, you’re in tip-top shape.”
Building up during the fall is critical for success in individual tournaments such as the NCAA championships, and especially for team play in the spring. Dancer compared it to Olympic trials in that the team needs these experiences to be at their best later on.
“It’s a little bit like you think of those events as our Olympic trials or NCAA trials,” Dancer explained. “You would not go into that being like, ‘I want to be at 70% there.’ You want to be 100% there. Harvard offers us another chance to test through everything, play a ton of matches and come out stronger and better on the other side.
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