Box Score 

URBANA, Ill. – The No. 9 Fighting Illini men's tennis team defeated the 2017 NCAA Champion, Virginia Cavaliers, 4-3 on Sunday afternoon at the Atkins Tennis Center. Illinois improves to 8-4 overall this season.

Illinois clinched the early advantage on Sunday. Sophomore Zeke Clark and Aleks Kovacevic blanked Lord and Alhagbani on court two. Freshmen Alex Brown and Caleb Chakravarthi followed with a 6-2 win on court three to clinch the point.

Virginia began singles play with a win on five and earned Cavaliers' first team point. Illinois responded with three-straight singles wins to clinch the match. Chakravarthi defeated Tsygura, 6-1, 6-2 on six. No. 83-ranked Clark topped Alhagbani on court four, 6-4, 6-2. No. 116 Brown clinched the match at the No. 2 position with a three-set, 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 win over Virginia's No. 18-ranked Lizen.

Up next, the Illini will host the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Wednesday night. First serve is set for 6 pm from the Atkins Tennis Center.

Illini Notes

• Illinois defeated Virginia for the first time since February 27, 2016 when the Illini topped then-No. 2-ranked UVA in a 4-3 thriller.
• Alex Brown played at the No. 2 singles position for the first time in his career. Brown earned his second-straight ranked singles win over No. 18 Aswin Lizen. His first came on Friday night.
  • The Urbandale, Iowa, native clinched his second-straight match for the Illini.
• Brown and Caleb Chakravarthi clinched their fifth doubles point of the season. The duo is currently on a four-match doubles winning streak and 10-2 in doubles this season.
• Illinois clinched the doubles point for the fourth-straight match this season.

Final Results

#9 Illinois 4, Virginia 3

Doubles-Order of Finish: 2, 3*

1. Hiltzilk/Vukic (Illinois) vs. Lizen/Ross (Virginia) 3-4, unf.
2. Clark/Kovacevic (Illinois) def. Lord/Alhagbani (Virginia) 6-0
3. Brown/Chakravarthi (Illinois) def. Soderlund/Tsygura (Virginia) 6-2

Singles-Order of Finish: 5, 6, 4, 2*, 3, 1

1. Carl Soderlund (Virginia) def. #23 Aleks Vukic (Illinois) vs. 7-6(4), 7-6(7)
2. #116 Alex Brown (Illinois) def. #18 Aswin Lizen (Virginia) 6-2, 3-6, 6-1
3. Gianni Ross (Virginia) def. Aleks Kovacevic (Illinois) 6-3, 5-7, 1-0(8)  
4. #83 Zeke Clark (Illinois) def. Ammar Alhagbani (Virginia) 6-4, 6-2  
5. Matthew Lord (Virginia) def. Noe Khlif (Illinois) 6-2, 6-3
6. Caleb Chakravarthi (Illinois) def. Kyrylo Tsygura (Virginia) 6-1, 6-2

Records: Illinois (8-4) | Virginia (6-5)

Follow the Illini 
FightingIllini.com  | Facebook  | Twitter  | Instagram