March 27, 2002

The No. 3 Illinois men's tennis team begins its Big Ten grind this weekend as it hosts No. 48 Purdue and Indiana this weekend at the Atkins Tennis Center. The conference matches are the first of eight that will be played to round out the 2002 regular season.

The Boilermakers (6-7, 1-1) visit Atkins on Saturday, while the Hoosiers (6-8, 0-2) make the trip Sunday. Illinois (12-4, 2-0), the five-time defending Big Ten champions, defeated Purdue once and Indiana twice in 2001, including a 4-2 win over the Hoosiers in the Big Ten quarterfinal.

"It's good to get back to the Big Ten schedule," said Illinois Head Coach Craig Tiley. "We are looking forward to continued improvement after having a tough spring break."

Purdue comes into Atkins having won its last two matches, both 4-3 decisions over Iowa and Indiana State. The Boilermakers are led by doubles tandem Scott Mayer and Don Swan, ranked No. 39 in the nation.

Indiana has struggled of late, losing its last five matches, and is slated to meet Purdue on Thursday before coming to Champaign. The Hoosiers' strength is in singles play, where No. 63 Jakub Praibis and No. 109 Milan Rakvica lead the way. Despite Indiana's current losing skid, Tiley said he expects some stiff competition from both the Hoosiers and Boilermakers.

"Traditionally, we have played well against Purdue and Indiana," Tiley said. "But they are two well-coached teams, and their rankings are not indicative of the strength of their teams."

Illinois is coming off a 5-2 loss at No. 3 Georgia. The two points the Illini received in Athens were courtesy of sophomores Brian Wilson, No. 72 in the nation, and Michael Calkins, No. 93. Wilson (20-6) and Calkins (21-6) have each won their last four matches. Calkins also pairs with classmate Amer Delic in doubles as the No. 4 duo in college.