As the season unfolds for the Illini, three athletes made their mark at the Hope College RSM Invite. Freshmen Adam Jilly and Sasha Colleu, joined by junior Jeremy Zhang, dominated in singles play while still finding their footing in doubles.
Jilly came into the invite after recently attending the ITA All-American Championship, which saw the freshman fall in the first round to Arizona’s Pepijn Bastiaansen. The freshman turned around the disappointing singles fall into an undefeated outing in Michigan, going 3-0.
Zhang and Colleu recently travelled to the Harvard Chowderfest, where the pair shone on the opening day with a doubles victory and a singles victory for Zhang. Despite some struggles in the latter days of the Chowderfest, they showed their strength in singles at the Invite.
Zhang went a perfect 3-0, while Colleu started 2-0 before falling in his final match.
Singles
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Jilly, Zhang and Colleu proved themselves key assets for the Illini on the singles courts. The trio went 3-0 Friday to set the tone.
Jilly secured his first Illinois singles win in a swift two-set over Notre Dame sophomore Giuseppe Cerasuolo. The freshman claimed set one 6-3, then won the match with a 6-4 set two.
Colleu followed suit, making quick work of Notre Dame junior Evan Lee in a decisive 6-1, 6-0 victory. This was Colleu’s fastest and first singles win as an Illini.
Zhang closed out the first day’s singles play with a nail-biting three-set victory over Michigan senior Mert Oral. Zhang took the first set 6-4, then fell 2-6 and resurged in set three 1-0 (11-9) for the win.
On the second day, the Illini were almost perfect again. The team went 5-1 in singles matches in two rounds of play.
In the first set of singles matches, all three Illini dominated in two-set victories. First, Jilly defeated DePaul graduate student Alejandro Gandini 6-4, 6-2. Colleu followed with a 7-6(1), 6-3 win over DePaul sophomore Sebastian Medica. As the first round of singles play ended, Zhang continued the quick wins for the Illini by going 6-4, 7-6(3) over Purdue freshman Nikola Jovic.
After a round of doubles play, singles resumed with two quick Illini wins. Jilly upheld his undefeated record at the Invite, finishing his last match 6-4, 6-2 over Michigan senior Bjorn Swenson. Zhang continued his undefeated streak, taking down Michigan State senior David Saye in a quick 6-3, 6-3 final match. Colleu took the first Illinois singles loss, as he fell in a close 4-6, 7-6(5), 1-0 (10-7) match against Michigan senior Nicholas Steiglehner.
Doubles
While the Illini found great potential in their singles play, their doubles matchups showed room for improvement. Illinois captured only one doubles victory in six total matchups.
The first day had Jilly and Colleu matched together for the two rounds of doubles play, with Zhang paired with DePaul senior Pablo Torres Almeida for their matches.
The pairing of Jilly and Colleu fell 6-4 to Notre Dame’s Cerasuolo and Lee. Zhang and Almedia dropped a close match 7-6(3) to Michigan’s Oral and freshman Arnav Bhandari.
The second round saw Jilly and Colleu fall yet again to DePaul’s Gandini and Medica in a closer 7-5 loss. Zhang and Almeida earned a victory, defeating Purdue’s Jovic and senior Mujtaba Ali-Khan.
The second day was against the Illini’s favor, as they fell in their last two doubles matches. First, Jilly and Colleu saw their third-straight defeat in a 6-4 match against Michigan’s Swenson and Steiglehner. Zhang and Almeida closed out doubles play with a fast 6-1 loss to Michigan State’s Saye and sophomore Mitchell Sheldon.
While doubles play proved less than ideal for the Illini, there is still plenty of time left before the conference season for their play to strengthen.
Looking ahead
The Illini face a stacked week following the Hope Invite. First is the ATP Fairfield Challenger from Oct. 5-12 in Fairfield, California, followed by the IFT Lexington Futures from Oct. 6-12 in Lexington, Kentucky. Some Illini will stay home for the UTR PTT Champaign from Oct. 6-12 at the Atkins Tennis Center.
