ATHENS, Ga. – The Illinois Fighting Illini men's tennis team fell to the TCU Horned Frogs, 4-1 on Thursday afternoon in the NCAA Round of 16 at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga. The Illini conclude the 2017 season with an 18-12 record.
A hard-fought doubles point went to TCU Horned Frogs with wins on two and three. In singles, No. 114-ranked Jerry Lopez defeated freshman Aleks Kovacevic, 6-0, 7-5 on court four to extend TCU's lead to 2-0. Fellow-freshman Zeke Clark put Illinois on the board with a 6-4, 6-4 win on court six over Trevor Johnson.
The No. 1-ranked Cameron Norrie defeated No. 3 Aleks Vukic, 6-3, 6-4 on court one and No. 20 Alex Rybakov topped No. 20 Aron Hiltzik, 6-4, 7-6(5) on court two to clinch the Horned Frog victory.
Up next, Hiltzik and Vukic will continue play in the NCAA Individual Championships. The pair will play in singles draw that begins on Wednesday in Athens.
Illinois returns 10 players from the 2017 lineup after losing redshirt-seniors, Alex Jesse and Julian Childers to graduation. The 10 returning players will be joined by four incoming freshmen that are set to join the Orange and Blue squad in the fall.
Head Coach Brad Dancer's Thoughts
"I thought we had really good energy and spirit in doubles. We did a lot of things well in doubles and we continue to have issues holding serve in doubles. That was a big point. TCU came up with some big shots at No. 1 doubles. I thought Lopez played great at No. 1 doubles and he probably got that win for them there. I thought we were a little bit unlucky at No. 2 doubles. We have lost so many doubles points and still been able to win and we didn't feel like TCU was insurmountable."
"For Zeke (Clark) to put that early point up on the board was huge. I think for us to be in that was huge. Big, big turning point when Kova (Aleks Kovacevic) couldn't close out the second set. I think he had two or three set points in the second set. If he can get that second set, I think the whole match shifts. Aron (Hiltzik) and Vuki (Aleks Vukic) are playing with so much pressure looking at the scoreboard. TCU has great players and a lot of winning situations."
"For us, we have made progress down the stretch of the season, I am excited about that in terms of where we are going. We have had warts all season long and they showed up again today. I don't think we played with enough courage in some spots and we weren't ready to play in other spots. It's hard to keep advancing without doing most of the things right. You can have faults, but we had one or two too many today. TCU is so good that they are going to expose you on that every time."
Final Results
#4 TCU 4, #25 Illinois 1
Doubles-Order of Finish: 2, 3*
- #71 Budic/Vukic (Illinois) vs. #25 Lopez/Stadler (TCU) 4-5, unf.
- #57 Rybakov/Nunez (TCU) def. Clark/Kovacevic (Illinois) 6-3
- Norrie/Johnson (TCU) def. Gomes/Hiltzk (Illinois) 6-4
Singles-Order of Finish: 4, 6, 1, 2*
- #1 Cameron Norrie (TCU) def. #3 Aleks Vukic (Illinois) 6-3, 6-4
- #20 Alex Rybakov (TCU) def. #41 Aron Hiltzik (Illinois) vs. 6-2, 7-6(5)
- Gui Gomes (Illinois) vs. #83 Guillermo Nunez (TCU) 6-4, 3-6, 2-2, unf.
- #114 Jerry Lopez (TCU) def. Aleks Kovacevic (Illinois) 6-0, 7-5
- Noe Khlif (Illinois) vs. Reese Stadler (TCU) 7-5, 2-6, 2-1, unf.
- Zeke Clark (Illinois) def. Trevor Johnson (TCU) 6-4, 6-4
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