The Illinois men’s tennis team doesn’t often play midweek matches, but the Illini will face a tough test Wednesday as they take on No. 13 Kentucky. Coming off of a busy weekend with two road matches, the Illini hit the road once again to face off with the Wildcats. 

“It was a long weekend with a lot of traveling, no doubt about that,” head coach Brad Dancer said.

If the uncommon midweek match and the amount of travel weren’t enough for the Illini, they’ll also be faced with another change to their routine. The team will begin to play its matches outdoors when the weather permits. The beginning of the Penn State match this past weekend was played outdoors until rain became a factor and the play was moved indoors. Given the way the weather has been the past few months, the Illini haven’t been able to practice outside much. Although the change isn’t something the Illini are used to yet this season, junior Farris Gosea said the team is excited to get outdoors. 

“I think we’d all rather play outside, slower courts so we can get a feel for what’s going on. I think we’re always keen to get outside,” Gosea said. 

No. 23-ranked Gosea provided the individual highlight of the weekend for Illinois when he took down Ohio State’s No. 8 Peter Kobelt. 

“I played him in the fall and lost pretty handily at Ohio State, so it was definitely nice for me to see what I’ve been working on. Trying to play players that have big serves is working, and what I was doing is right and coming away with a win definitely felt great,” Gosea said. 

Gosea will have the potential to do something similar Wednesday against Kentucky as he expects to battle with No. 11 Tom Jomby. Although Jared Hiltzik returned from injury over the weekend, the team’s usual top singles player, Gosea, played the No. 1 singles spot against Ohio State and said he expects to do the same against Kentucky.

Gosea won’t be the only Illini who will have a chance to take down a ranked opponent, as Kentucky features three singles players ranked in the nation’s top 90. The Wildcats also have the No. 31 doubles duo in Jomby and Kevin Lai.

Kentucky’s top doubles duo is nothing that No. 3 Ross Guignon and Tim Kopinski of Illinois shouldn’t be able to handle, but lately the Illini as a whole have hit a rut in their doubles game. The team has been inconsistent in terms of getting the doubles point all season and didn’t get the point against Penn State or Ohio State over the weekend. With Hiltzik back, Dancer will now have the flexibility to make changes to his pairings. 

The doubles point is likely to be crucial against Kentucky, as the match between the two top-15 teams is expected to be close. The Illini have gone back and forth in their recent meetings. Illinois pulled off a dramatic 4-3 win last season but fell to the Wildcats 6-1 two seasons ago. 

“The bottom line is you just have to take the moment, prepare well and play as well as you can, and that’s what I think we’ll do this week,” Dancer said.

Brett can be reached at [email protected] and @blerner10.