ATLANTA – The Fighting Illini men's tennis team opened up the 2017 spring season at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Invitational at the Ken Byers Tennis Complex in Atlanta. Illinois competed against players from Columbia, Georgia and Georgia Tech over the three-day weekend. Junior Aron Hiltzik and freshman Aleks Kovacevic each went undefeated in singles play, tallying four of their six wins over ranked opponents.

Illinois began the tournament against the No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday morning with two doubles victories. Singles play would see the Illini pick up three wins over ranked opponents. Junior Aleks Vukic defeated No. 56 Jan Zielinski in a 3-6, 7-6, 6-3 comeback win. No. 29 Hiltzik picked up a 7-6, 5-6, 6-1 victory over No. 31 Emil Reinberg and No. 85 Kovacevic defeated No. 79 Walker Duncan, 6-2, 6-2. Redshirt-sophomore Pablo Landa also earned a straight-set 6-4, 6-4 win over Samuel Dromsky.

On Sunday, the Illini took on host school, Georgia Tech with Hiltzik and Kovacevic earning the Illini's lone doubles win with a 6-4 win over Fiegel and Li. The Orange and Blue were once again led by Hiltzik and Kovacevic in singles. Hiltzik defeated No. 61 Andrew Li, 6-2, 6-2 and Kovacevic won 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 over Carlos Divar. No. 100 Gui Gomes used straight-sets to defeat Carlos Benito, 6-2, 6-4, while Zeke Clark also picked up his first singles win of the tournament, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 over Daniel Yun. Vukic fell to the No. 9-ranked Christopher Eubanks in a back-and-forth three-set battle. The Georgia Tech junior edged Vukic in the match, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.

The Orange and Blue faced players from No. 24 Columbia on Monday morning with redshirt-senior Alex Jesse and Gomes earning a doubles victory over No. 34 Hadavi and Tang, 6-3. Hiltzik and Kovacevic each earned their third singles win of the tournament on Monday. Hiltzik defeated No. 48 Shawn Hadavi, 7-6, 7-5, while Kovacevic won his respective match over Tang, 6-2, 6-3. Vukic made quick work of No. 40 Victor Pham on MLK Day to win, 6-2, 6-4, for his second win over a ranked opponent. Khlif earned his first singles win of the tournament with a 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 title over Richard Pham. Clark also garnered his second singles win of the weekend by defeating Alex Keyser, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.

Head Coach Brad Dancer's Thoughts

"Georgia Tech and their staff did an incredible job hosting a first class tournament.  We knew coming in that we would get challenged every day and we certainly did. Everyone got tested. This was exactly what we needed. We have things to focus on in all areas but we fought hard. We fought like Illini."

FULL RESULTS  

Saturday, Jan. 14 vs. Georgia

Doubles

1. #41 Reinberg/Montgomery (Georgia) def. Gomes/Jesse (Illinois) 6-4
2. #37 Duncan/Zielinski (Georgia) def. Hiltzik/Kovacevic (Illinois) 6-4
3. Khlif/Vukic (Illinois) def. Loeb/Phillips (Georgia) 6-3
4. Clark/Landa (Illinois) def. Dromsky/Martinez (Georgia) 6-2

Singles

1. Aleks Vukic (Illinois) def. #56 Jan Zielinski (Georgia) 3-6, 7-6, 6-3
2. #85 Aleks Kovacevic (Illinois) def. #79 Walker Duncan (Georgia) 6-2, 6-2
3. #29 Aron Hiltzik (Illinois) def. #31 Emil Reinberg (Georgia) 7-6, 4-6, 6-1
4. #22 Wayne Montgomery (Georgia) def. Zeke Clark (Illinois) 6-4, 6-2
5. Robert Loeb (Georgia) def. #100 Gui Gomes (Illinois) 6-4, 6-2
6. Alex Phillips (Georgia) def. Noe Khlif (Illinois) 7-6(3), 6-1
7. Pablo Landa (Illinois) def. Samuel Dromsky (Georgia) 6-4, 6-4

Sunday, Jan. 15 vs. Georgia Tech

Doubles

1. Eubanks/Benito (Georgia Tech) def. Jesse/Gomes (Illinois) 7-5
2. D. Yun/Divar (Georgia Tech) def. Clark/Vukic (Illinois) 6-1
3. Hiltzik/Kovacevic (Illinois) def. Fiegel/Li (Georgia Tech) 6-4
4. C. Yun/Kay (Georgia Tech) def. Landa/Khlif (Illinois) 6-4

Singles

1. Chris Yun (Georgia Tech) def. Noe Khlif (Illinois) 7-6, 1-6, 6-3
2. #9 Christopher Eubanks (Georgia Tech) def. Aleks Vukic (Illinois) 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
3. #100 Gui Gomes (Illinois) def. Carlos Benito (Georgia Tech) 6-2, 6-4
4. #29 Aron Hiltzik (Illinois) def. #61 Andrew Li (Georgia Tech) 6-4, 6-2
5. #85 Aleks Kovacevic (Illinois) def. Carlos Divar (Georgia Tech) 6-3, 4-6, 6-2
6. Zeke Clark (Illinois) def. Daniel Yun (Georgia Tech) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
7. Michael Kay (Georgia Tech) def. Pablo Landa (Illinois) 6-3, 6-3
8. Elijah Melendez (Georgia Tech) def. Vuk Budic (Illinois) 6-4, 6-4

Monday, Jan. 16 vs. Columbia

Doubles

1. Grant/Ambrozy (Columbia) def. Vukic/Budic (Illinois) 6-2
2. #8 R. Pham/V. Pham (Columbia) def. Hiltzik/Kovacevic (Illinois) 6-1
3. Jesse/Gomes (Illinois) def. #34 Hadavi/Tang (Columbia) 6-3
4. Rolshi/Matheson (Columbia) def. Clark/Khlif (Illinois) 7-5

Singles

1. Zeke Clark (Illinois) def. Alex Keyser (Columbia) 3-6, 6-1, 6-2
2. #85 Aleks Kovacevic (Illinois) def. Jackie Tang (Columbia) 6-2, 6-3
3. Aleks Vukic (Illinois) def. #40 Victor Pham (Columbia) 6-2, 6-4
4. #29 Aron Hiltzik (Illinois) def. #48 Shawn Hadavi (Columbia) 7-6, 7-5
5. Timothy Wang (Columbia) def. #100 Gui Gomes (Illinois) 6-3, 7-5
6. Noe Khlif (Illinois) def. Richard Pham (Columbia) 4-6, 6-2, 7-6
7. Christopher Grant (Columbia) def. Pablo Landa (Illinois) 7-5, 6-3
8. Adam Ambrozy (Columbia) def. Vuk Budic (Illinois) 6-2, 6-2

About the MLK Invitational

The 2017 MLK Invitational takes place on Jan. 14 through Jan. 16 at the Ken Byers Tennis Complex on the Georgia Tech campus. Three of the four teams competing are ranked in the ITA Preseason Top-25 Rankings with No. 5 Georgia, No. 17 Illinois and No. 24 Columbia. The teams will play singles and doubles matches against each of the other three teams. No team scores will be recorded, but singles and doubles champions will be crowned based on the round robin results. Live scoring for the MLK Invitational can be found here.

Up Next

The Illinois men's tennis program will host an Alumni match on Jan. 21 at the Atkins Tennis Center. First serve is set for 6 p.m. next Saturday as many former student-athletes to don the Orange and Blue will return to Champaign. The first dual match of the season for the Fighting Illini is slated for Saturday, Jan. 28 at the ITA Kick-Off Weekend in Norman, Okla. Illinois will take on the Arkansas Razorbacks at 10 a.m. CT.

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