Through the 32 doubles matches that junior Kate Duong and sophomore Megan Heuser shared the court in, they had an astonishing record of 26-6 that was headlined by a 6-4 victory over the No. 2 duo in the country, Miller and Brown from Michigan. But in the weeks leading up to the NCAA doubles tournament, it appeared as if Illinois’ star duo would not get the opportunity to compete due an injury to Duong. A fractured left wrist had kept Duong out of one regular season match, two Big Ten tournament matches and a first round NCAA championship appearance. The Illini claimed just one of the four available doubles points and only won one match during that stretch.
Although her injury had not completely healed by the time of the NCAA doubles tournament, the opportunity to compete against the best of the best was simply too enticing. For the first time in a month, Duong took the floor with a brace-adorned left wrist and a desire to go out with a bang.
“Missing my team’s postseason made me a little bit hungrier to get on the court,” Duong said. “I love playing and I’ve never really taken three, four weeks off from the team. It definitely put me in a position where having that mentality of ‘nothing to lose’ and having the motivation from not playing for the past four weeks really motivated me to play my best tennis and put everything out there, especially for Megan (Heuser).”
Under normal circumstances, entering the most challenging tournament of the year with a considerable amount of rust and a lingering injury would be a death sentence. However, Heuser chose a different approach.
“I honestly think the break helped us,” Heuser said. “Playing with someone different kind of relaxed me. When I am playing with someone else, I don’t have any pressure to uphold a ranking or uphold a ‘We have to win this match because we have to make the tournament because we had such a great season.’ Coming into the tournament … I was relaxed and I felt more comfortable on the court.”
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As early as the first serve of the tournament, it was clear the duo hadn’t missed a beat. They came out and slapped a duo from Fresno State in the face with a lopsided 6-1 first set victory. Even though this was followed by a much tighter second set, Duong and Heuser closed out the match in straight sets (6-1, 7-6). The win may have been a valuable reconfirmation of the duo’s return to form, but Heuser felt it from the jump.
“When we got back together, everything just clicked again,” Heuser said. “The connection that we had on the court is not just something we’re gonna lose in a month. I was a little bit nervous going into the match, obviously, but at the end of the day I had to convince myself that no one can take away the season that we had. We’re playing one arm down, basically, and there was no pressure on us to do anything. I think that was really comforting and helped us play really well.”
Duong mirrored this sentiment, and even doubled down on her trust in the unwavering connection they possess.
“I have been playing with her (Heuser) for years,” Duong said. “We know each other really well. Even if I took two months off, nothing would have been different.”
The hot streak lived on in the sweet 16, where Duong and Heuser rallied for a victory even after dropping behind 5-7 in the first set. All-American status was given to each of the two Illini for advancing to the elite eight, a feat that no member of Illinois women’s tennis has accomplished since 2013 and the first of whom to do so under head coach Evan Clark.
“They’re a great team and they are very deserving of several things,” Clark said. “It’s just a really unique story with her going down and her playing in the cast. We certainly knew what they were capable of but with Kate’s injury it made you question a little bit. What they did at the NCAA tournament with her still being in a cast … it was pretty remarkable.”
Their magical run was unfortunately brought to a close by a duo from Virginia in the following round. But even though the short-term goal is always to survive and advance, plenty of legendary heights had been reached by one of Illinois’ best duos of all time. Heuser in particular had the pleasure of scratching out a fair share of season and lifelong goals.
“At the beginning of the fall, I made three goals,” Heuser explained. “The three goals I made were to make NCAAs as a team, which we did, to make NCAAs for doubles, which we did, and then to become an All-American. My dream was always to play at a big D-I school and be an All-American so that is something little-me will be proud of forever. That’s something that stays with me forever and something that lives as a legacy at Illinois forever. I am super grateful and humbled to have that honor at Illinois.”
@blountco21
