The Illinois men’s tennis team held its own against stiff competition this weekend at the Conference Challenge, which was hosted by Texas A&M. The Illini finished 4-5 in doubles and 10-9 in singles.

Freshmen Jared Hiltzik and Julian Childers accounted for six of the 10 singles wins, losing once combined. Childers’ loss was against Texas A&M’s Alberto Bautista in a tough match 6-0, 4-6, 6-2. Childers is beginning to come into his own this fall after starting the season with several losses, Illinois head coach Brad Dancer said.

“He’s starting to get his head above water a little bit,” Dancer said. “He keeps coming up for air and then dunks himself again, but there’s at least progress being made there. His game is really raw. He’s winning right now on guts and heart and fight, which I love, but he’s got a lot of skills to develop.”

Dancer said Childers’ offensive game is very limited and his defense is predictable, which gives opponents an opening to attack him. Despite these technicalities, Dancer said Childers is beginning to believe in himself and is starting to mature emotionally, giving the freshman a chance to win matches.

Childers added that entering matches with the mind-set that every match is going to produce tough competition has been key for him over the past few weekends, as well as the changing of his racket, which instilled more confidence in his abilities.

“A lot of things have come together for me over the past three or four weeks,” Childers said. “I think I toughed guys out a little more. I would stay on the court with them and just push them until they couldn’t stay with me anymore, and I think that just goes hand-in-hand with the mentality.”

Another good sight for the Illini this weekend was senior Bruno Abdelnour competing for the second time this fall, as he has been nursing wrist tendinitis over the past four months. Although he did not see the results he would like, Abdelnour was excited to get a chance to play.

“It was a little bit weird getting back at it, but the more tennis I played, it was getting better,” Abdelnour said. “I would say I’m at 80 to 85 percent now and probably next month I will be 100 percent, hopefully. It’s still really sore, but it’s getting there.”

Dancer was glad to see Abdelnour play because he has been limited in competition this fall. He would like to see the senior get as many matches as he can before the spring season starts.

“With Bruno, he’s got a lot of rust on him right now,” Dancer said. “That was a weekend to get the rust off.”

Sophomore Ross Guignon made the trip but ended up not competing because his knee “flared up,” Dancer said.

The Illini also struggled with their serves. Dancer said it seems like outside conditions, such as the chilly and windy weather at the Conference Challenge, often negatively affect his team’s serving quality, as they did this weekend. He also added that the coaches need to take more responsibility when it comes to skills because a few players, Tim Kopinski and Childers specifically, do not have offensive weapons at their disposal.

“They’re competing really hard, so they’re able to get wins just out of their toughness,” Dancer said. “The coaches need to take more accountability for helping them in their skill development.”

Steven can be reached at [email protected].