Illinois will compete in its first dual meet of the season on Saturday and Sunday in Knoxville, Tennessee, for the ITA Kickoff Weekend. On the first day, the team will take on talent from No. 14 Tennessee (3-1). The next day, Illinois will face either Auburn (2-0) or No. 25 Michigan (1-0).
Previous outing success
The team stayed local for its Fighting Illini Invite at the Atkins Tennis Center in Urbana, where numerous Illini athletes emerged victorious. The three-day-long competition was packed with intense matchups from elite players from No. 8 Columbia (0-0) and Boise State (0-0).
No. 30 redshirt junior William Mroz and sophomore Jeremy Zhang joined forces to achieve a 6-2 doubles victory over a Boise State duo. The two picked up another win with a 6-3 victory soon after, getting off to a strong start. Mroz also won a three-set singles competition that day.
Similarly, senior Mathis Debru and No. 14 junior Kenta Miyoshi excelled in their two doubles matches on the first day. Miyoshi later picked up the Illini’s second-ranked win of the night to finish the first day off.
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The success continued on the event’s second day. Redshirt freshman Zach Viiala got the first singles win for Illinois. Freshman Max Mroz followed suit, picking up his first collegiate singles victory.
On the final day of the invite, the Illini went out with a bang. William Mroz won his third singles match, earning the title of the Fighting Illini Invite’s Most Outstanding Singles Player. Zhang finished with his first singles match victory, and Viiala with the second-ranked singles win of his career. The young Max Mroz also added to his collegiate victories with another singles win.
Upcoming ITA challenges
For their first battle, the Illini will go head-to-head with the Tennessee Volunteers, a team they haven’t had much recent success against. The Volunteers are coming off a 4-0 loss to the No. 4 Wake Forest Demon Deacons (5-0), so they will be hungry for a win after this recent blowout.
In terms of Tennessee’s talent, it has No. 18 senior Shunsuke Mitsui, who has thrived so far in 2025 and is 3-0 in singles this season. The Volunteers also have No. 34 graduate student Alex Kotzen and No. 56 junior Alejandro Moreno, who could bring some heat to the Illini with their seasoned experience.
ITA weekend outlook
Illinois begins its weekend play against Tennessee on Saturday at noon EST. Before that, Auburn competes against Michigan to determine Sunday’s matchups. The consolation match, involving the losing teams from the first two matchups, begins at 10 a.m. on Sunday. The championship match follows that at 1 p.m.
If the Illini come out swinging like they did in the Fighting Illini Invite, they will surely make it to the championship match. But this will not be a walk in the park for Illinois. There are tough competitors in this event, and the Illini must work well under pressure to come out on top.
@tess_eken
