Box Score
FORT WORTH, Texas – Fighting Illini men's tennis fell to the TCU Horned Frogs, 5-2 on Wednesday night in Fort Worth. Illinois is now 9-6 overall this season.
TCU earned the early advantage in the match with wins on courts one and three in doubles. TCU's Lopez and Norrie defeated Illinois's No. 23-ranked pair of juniors Aron Hiltzik and Aleks Vukic, 6-1. No. 21-ranked Nunez and Rybakov clinched the point for the Horned Frogs on court three over freshmen Gui Gomes and Zeke Clark, 6-2.
In singles action, TCU grabbed wins on the first four singles courts to clinch the match victory over the Illini. Gomes fell to No. 78-ranked Nunez, 6-1, 6-4. TCU's No. 81-ranked Lopez defeated Kovacevic, 7-5, 6-2 on court four. Redshirt-senior Julian Childers was defeated by Stadler on court five, 6-2, 6-3.
The remaining singles court would play out. Illinois's No. 30-ranked Hiltzik fell to TCU's No. 27-ranked Rubakov, 6-2, 6-1. Clark defeated Blake on six, 3-6, 6-2, 2-0 to put Illinois on the board. No. 20-ranked Vukic and TCU's No. 3-ranked Cameron Norrie went head-to-head in a three set thriller. After splitting first sets the match came down to a super tiebreaker. Vukic would take the tiebreaker, 10-6 and hand Norrie the Horned Frog's first singles loss of the season.
Up next, Illinois will continue a five-match road swing in California on Saturday at the No. 11-ranked California Golden Bears. First serve is set for 3 p.m. CT.
Head Coach Brad Dancer's Thoughts
"We are surprised by the result and I give TCU the credit for making us uncomfortable in many spots. The coaches looked around last night and felt the guys did a good job of being ready. When the match hit, we looked a bit dazed all around. Zeke (Clark) and Vuki (Aleks Vukic) did a great job of staying calm and letting themselves work into their respective matches. By the time they finished, they were more dialed in. We need to play with more composure as we compete on the road."
Final Results
#19 TCU 5 | #25 Illinois 2
Doubles-Order of Finish: 1, 3*
- Lopez/Norrie (TCU) def. #23 Hiltzik/Vukic (Illinois) 6-1
- Jesse/Kovacevic (Illinois) vs. Blake/Stalder (TCU) 2-5, unf.
- #21 Nunez/Rybakov (TCU) def. Clark/Gomes (Illinois) 6-2
Singles-Order of Finish: 3, 5, 4*, 2, 6, 1
- #20 Aleks Vukic (Illinois) vs. #3 Cameron Norrie (TCU) 6-7(2), 6-3, 1-0(6)
- #27 Alex Rybakov (TCU) def. #30 Aron Hiltzik (Illinois) 6-2, 6-1
- #78 Guillermo Nunez (TCU) def. Gui Gomes (Illinois) 6-1, 6-4
- #81 Jerry Lopez (TCU) def. Aleks Kovacevic (Illinois) 7-5, 6-2
- Reese Stalder (TCU) def. Julian Childers (Illinois) 6-2, 6-3
- Zeke Clark (Illinois) def. Hudson Blake (TCU) 3-6, 6-2, 2-0, ret.
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