Illinois Continues Road Swing in North Carolina

Friday, February 2

Durham, NC

5 PM

University of Illinois

Duke

February 1, 2018 | Men's Tennis

Match 3 and 4: Illinois vs. Duke, North Carolina

Date	Friday - 5 pm vs. Duke \| Saturday - 5 pm vs. UNC
Location	Durham, N.C. \| Chapel Hill, N.C.
Live Links	Duke Scoring \| Duke Video \| UNC Scoring \| UNC Video
2018 Information	Match Notes \| Record Book

The No. 12 Illinois men's tennis team continues its season-opening road swing in North Carolina on Friday and Saturday. The Illini will take on No. 19 Duke on Friday night at 5 pm and then No. 3 North Carolina on Saturday night at 5 pm. The Blue Devils and Tar Heels enter their respective matches with the Orange and Blue boasting unblemished records and sit in the Top 20 of this week's ITA National Team Rankings.

Illinois Earns Berth in ITA National Team Indoor Championships

The Illini earned went 2-0 at the ITA Kickoff Weekend to earn a spot in this month's ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Seattle, Washington. Illinois opened the dual match season with a 4-0 sweep of Georgia Tech. UI followed that win with a 4-1 win over No. 18 Oklahoma. Illinois will compete in the National Indoor Championships for the first since since 2016.

Freshmen Shine in Dual Match Debuts

Illinois freshmen Alex Brown and Caleb Chakravarthi debuted in the Illinois singles and doubles lineup at the ITA Kickoff Weekend. Brown and Chakravarthi teamed up in doubles play and clinched both doubles points for Illinois. Chakravarthi clinched Illinois's 4-0 win over Georgia Tech and Brown clinched UI's win over Oklahoma.

Hiltzik, Vukic Earn First Professional Titles

Returning seniors Aron Hiltzik and Aleks Vukic won their first professional titles during the offseason. Vukic earned the singles title at the Champaign Futures in late July and has since reached an ATP career-high singles ranking of 459. Hiltzik teamed up with former Illini All-American, Dennis Nevolo, to win the doubles title at the Houston Futures in October.

Fennell Joins Dancer's Staff

Fennell joins the Fighting Illini after completing two playing seasons at the University of South Carolina after transferring from Penn State following his sophomore season. Alex earned an 80-62 overall singles record during his playing career at South Carolina and Penn State. Fennell graduated with a degree in psychology. Fennell will serve as the volunteer assistant coach for 2017-18.

Illini Lineup Returns

Illinois returns nine players from the 2016-17 squad, including the full singles lineup from the NCAA Round of 16 team. The Illini added three freshmen in 2017, Alex Brown, Caleb Chakravarthi and Fletcher Scott, each looking to make an immediate impact in the lineup after successful junior careers.