First Serve: Ball State-Purdue Doubleheader 

The Illinois Fighting Illini will travel to West Lafayette, Indiana for a Wednesday doubleheader at the Schwartz Tennis Center. Illinois will take on the Ball State Cardinals at 11 a.m. CT and then Big Ten foe, Purdue, at 5:00 p.m. CT. The doubleheader is the third in a stretch of four-straight double-headers from Feb. 14 through March 3. The Illini have won 21-straight matches against the Cardinals. The streak includes Illinois sweeping Ball State in 11 of the past 12 meetings. The Orange and Blue have been victorious against the Purdue Boilermakers the past 24 meetings between the two programs. 

Last Time Out: Illini Split Doubleheader on Friday

The Fighting Illini men's tennis team split a doubleheader at the Atkins Tennis Center on Friday, Feb. 24. Illinois swept Northern Illinois, 4-0 to begin the day, but fell to the No. 21-ranked Kentucky Wildcats, 4-0. Illinois is now 6-4 overall this season.

Childers Continues to Clinch Wins 

Redshirt-senior Julian Childers returned to the Illini lineup in January and has clinched three of the past four Illinois match victories. Childers clinched the Illini wins against Indiana, Notre Dame and Northern Illinois. Freshman Gui Gomes has clinched two Illinois wins, a 4-3 thriller against Duke and a 4-0 sweep of William and Mary in Charlottesville.  

Vukic Named Big Ten Tennis Player of the Week 

Aleks Vukic was named the Big Ten Tennis Athlete of the Week on Tuesday, Feb. 14. Vukic is coming off a strong 

performance on Feb. 10 and 12 against Indiana and Notre Dame, where the junior went 3-0 in doubles and singles. Vukic began the weekend earning his first dual match doubles victory of the season with freshman Aleks Kovacevic, 7-5 over Indiana's Crane and Brodney. The Sydney, Australia native followed the win with a 6-1, 7-6(0) victory over Raheel Manji on court one. On Sunday, Vukic continued to find success on the singles courts. The No. 31-ranked Vukic defeated Notre Dame's No. 34-ranked Josh Hagar, 6-3, 6-1.

Freshmen Focus 

The Fighting Illini opened the 2017 season with five freshmen in the starting lineup. Vuk Budic competed in doubles with junior Aleks Vukic. Gui Gomes, Zeke Clark, Aleks Kovacevic and Noe Khlif started on courts three through six in singles. With six freshmen, Illinois has the largest number of freshmen in the Big Ten and the only school in the conference to start five freshmen on opening day. 

Illinois Finds Success at MLK Invitational 

The Orange and Blue opened up the 2017 spring season at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Invitational at the Ken Byers Tennis Complex in Atlanta on Jan. 14-16. 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.

Hiltzik Named Big Ten Tennis Player of the Week 

Aron Hiltzik was named the Big Ten Tennis Athlete of the Week, the league office announced on Tuesday, Jan. 16. Hiltzik was coming off a strong performance at the MLK Invitational in Atlanta, where he tallied a perfect 3-0 record against three ITA-ranked opponents