After a trip to Arizona for the Sun Devil Preseason Invite, Illinois men’s tennis is back in Champaign for its home opener. The three-day event is from Jan. 17-19, with No. 8 Columbia and Boise State opposite Illinois.
On Friday, the Fighting Illini Invite will kick off with a doubles tournament before transitioning into partial dual and one-off singles matches for the next two days. By the end of the weekend, each team will complete two dual matches against the others, the first of the season for all three schools.
Friday’s doubles tournament features four doubles teams per program, with each match being sets of six. After the tournament, intermittent singles matches are on deck until Illinois’ hidden dual begins at 5 p.m.
Unlike a standard dual match, Illinois will play half of its match against Columbia and the other half against Boise State. The second half of Illinois’ matches with both teams will be completed during their respective hidden matches on Saturday and Sunday.
The Illini are up against plenty of ranked talent this weekend. On top of the No. 1 singles player, junior Michael Zheng, Columbia boasts No. 33 senior Hugo Hashimoto and No. 42 junior Nicolas Kotzen. In doubles, the Lions feature a ranked trio of No. 18 Hashimoto/Zheng, No. 35 Kotzen/senior Max Westphal and No. 75 Hashimoto/senior Jayden Templeman.
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Boise State also brings three rankings to the table, with No. 111 redshirt senior Jett Middleton being the lone singles player. No. 95 sophomore Carson Baker/freshman Adam Duda and No. 104 senior John Chin/senior James Van Herzeele present a challenge in doubles.
The most recent ITA rankings (Dec. 3, 2024) highlighted four Illini. In singles, junior Kenta Miyoshi jumped from No. 42 to No. 14, while redshirt junior William Mroz went from unranked to No. 30 after an 18.38-point fall season. Redshirt sophomore Tyler Bowers and redshirt freshman Zach Viiala also made their mark in doubles, recording 10.00 points in the fall to land at No. 52 going into the spring.
The Fighting Illini Invite’s main events start at 10 a.m. on Friday, with the doubles tournament, before each school plays their hidden dual at 5 p.m. on Friday, noon on Saturday and 10 a.m. on Sunday.
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