Illinois (9-3) completed the impossible, defeating No. 8 Baylor (7-5) and No. 6 TCU (8-4), along with an opening weekend win against Illinois State (4-7).
“We have great players,” said head coach Brad Dancer to Fighting Illini Athletics. “We have tough players. We’ve over-coached and under-led. We have awesome personalities on this team, and it’s time to let these dogs ride.”
Illinois started the weekend triple-header against Illinois State and Baylor. The Illini pushed the Redbirds aside, sweeping 4-0. The Illini fought the Bears with grit and prevailed, going 4-1.
The weekend was capped off with the tremendous second-straight top 10 victory over the Horned Frogs, going 4-2.
Upset doesn’t just describe overall team play, as several players throughout the roster made some massive noise on their courts.
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Freshman Gabriel Debru had arguably the biggest shockers of the weekend as he defeated two top-15 players and paired with senior William Mroz to defeat a No. 56-ranked duo of sophomore Cooper Woestendick and freshman Oliver Bonding.
Illini blow by Redbirds
The Illini came out swinging as Mroz and redshirt junior Tyler Bowers were victorious on court 1, going 6-1 over Redbirds senior Adrian Dibildox and sophomore Christian Capacci, setting a tone for doubles victory.
Freshman Hayden Jones and junior Jeremy Zhang paired together to go 6-1 on Court 3 over Illinois State’s senior Jett Leong and sophomore Finn Logue.
The Illini’s dominance saw no effort to be stopped as the singles court once again proved on the side of the Illini.
Zhang was first on Court 5, as the junior put up two straight bagels (6-0) over Illinois State’s senior Caden Scarlett. This is Zhang’s first double bagel of the season.
Freshman Sasha Colleu was not far behind, grabbing Court 4 in a near sweep over Leong. The freshman secured the first set, going 6-0, and almost completed the double bagel by winning the second set, 6-1.
If there was anyone to cap off the opening game of the weekend triple-header, look no further than No. 22-ranked senior Kenta Miyoshi. The All-American senior captured Court 1 over Dibildox in commanding 6-1, 6-2 fashion.
Miyoshi’s win on Court 1 secured the sweep for Illinois over its in-state foes, in just its second unanswered win of the season.
Illinois bears down on Baylor
“Today was really good for the guys, especially for the top of the lineup,” Dancer said to Fighting Illini Athletics.
In what is the team’s largest upset since defeating the No. 8-ranked Duke Blue Devils back in Feb. 2024, the unranked Illini had a mountain to climb against the Bears.
In the Illini’s fourth straight game, the doubles point landed their way.
Debru and Bowers were the first on top, as they captured Court 1 over Baylor’s graduate student Alexandru Chirita and senior Zsombor Velcz, going 6-3.
The Bears came back to contend with the Illini on the final doubles point, as the Bears captured Court 3.
Miyoshi and Mroz closed it out in fashion as they defeated senior Luc Koenig and junior Connor Henry Van Schalkwyk to keep the Illini doubles play on top.
Upset was the name of the game, which was apparent in the first match of singles play with freshman Adam Jilly’s victory on Court 4 over No. 73-ranked Chirita. This was Jilly’s first-ranked victory since winning at Kentucky.
Who else but the Frenchman? Debru did the impossible, defeating Baylor’s No. 13-ranked junior Devin Badenhorst in a decisive 6-4, 6-0 win. This is the biggest victory of Debru’s collegiate career, so far.
Up 3-0, the Illini dropped their first court. Mroz fell on Court 3 to No. 27-ranked Henry Van Schalkwyk. Mroz pushed in the first, ultimately falling short in the tiebreaker 7-6 (3) and dropping the second set 6-4.
Once again, the Illini’s victory rested in the hands of Miyoshi, and they would not be disappointed. The senior secured victory on Court 2, despite initially losing the first set 3-6. The All-American came back, winning the final two sets, 6-3 and 6-4, over No. 39-ranked Velcz.
The Illini came the next day to face an even tougher opponent; however, as the weekend started with a strong effort, it looked set to end with one too.
Illini send Horned Frogs packing for Fort Worth
The final matchup of the weekend pitted the red-hot Illini against the No. 6 Horned Frogs on home court.
The rolling doubles teams were out first, as they captured the fifth straight doubles point for the Illini. Colleu and redshirt sophomore Zach Viiala were the first to reach victory, going 6-3 over TCU’s freshman Maximus Dussault and sophomore Albert Pedrico on Court 3.
Unlike the match against Baylor, the double point was no question in the hands of Illinois. The Illini secured the doubles point with a massive win on Court 1, as Mroz and Bowers defeated the No. 56-ranked duo of Woestendick and Bonding, 6-3.
Singles started against the luck of the Illini, as Jones dropped Court 5 to sophomore Roger Pascual in a 6-2, 6-2 loss.
However, the upset energy was still in the air for Mroz. As the senior upended the No. 28-ranked Woestendick in a 6-4, 6-3 rally. This victory is the highest-ranked win in Mroz’s collegiate career.
Despite the energy, Baylor pulled through on Court 6. Colleu fell to Dussault in a 6-1, 6-3 bout.
In what might go down as one of the largest upsets for the program, the unranked Debru stunned the No. 9-ranked junior Duncan Chan. Debru’s historic weekend ended with a massive two-set 6-3, 6-4 win that cemented the freshman in the program’s history.
In the final blow to the Bears, Jilly captured victory on Court 4 over Bonding in a back-and-forth three-set win. Jilly won the opening set 6-3, before falling 2-6 on the latter. However, the freshman was able to lock up the second-straight top 10 win for the Illini.
Looking ahead
The Illini host the Oregon Ducks (9-2) at the Atkins Tennis Center on Friday before bringing the Washington Huskies (6-6) into town on Sunday.
