University of Illinois
Northwestern
No. 6 Illinois Opens Big Ten Play at Northwestern
March 8, 2018 | Men's Tennis
Match 14: Illinois at Northwestern
| Date | Friday - 7 pm |
| Location | Combe Tennis Center | Evanston, Illinois |
| Live Links | Scoring | Video |
| 2018 Information | Match Notes | Record Book |
The No. 6 Illinois men's tennis team opens Big Ten play in Evanston, Illinois, on Friday night against the Northwestern Wildcats. First serve is set for 7 pm. The Illini have an all-time record of 300-128 (.700) in conference play with 18 Big Ten Championships, the last in 2015.
Match Points
- The Orange and Blue are riding a three-match winning streak and cap a seven-day, four-match stretch before a 10-day break.
- The Illini are 11-1 in Big Ten openers under head coach Brad Dancer.
- Illinois is 29-1 over the last 30 matches against the Wildcats, dating back to the 1997 season.
- Illinois went 8-3 in Big Ten play during 2017.
Freshmen Producing for Orange and Blue
Over the past three matches, Illini freshmen Alex Brown and Caleb Chakravarthi just keep winning:
- 9-0 combined record in singles and doubles
- Each currently on a three-match singles winning streak
- Clinched all three Illinois match wins
- Clinched the past two Illini doubles points
- Currently riding five-match doubles winning streak
- Brown was named the B1G Men's Tennis Athlete of the Week on Tuesday
Senior Aleks Vukic and Aron Hiltzik Enter Final Big Ten Season
Entering Big Ten play, Illini seniors Aleks Vukic and Aron Hiltzik boast incredible numbers against Big Ten opponents. The pair are a combined 49-3 in singles all-time versus Big Ten foes. Vukic's last loss against a Big Ten player was on April 17, 2015, good for a 23-match winning streak.
Sophomore Success: Kovacevic Rolling in 2018
Sophomore Aleks Kovacevic has picked up right where he left off in 2018. The New York native is 8-1 in singles since February 2 at Duke. Aleks has won each of those matches in straight sets with three of them involving a tiebreaker. Kovacevic clinched the Illinois victories at Duke and against Florida.
Vukic Reaches 100 Career Singles Wins
Vukic earned his 100th career singles victory on March 2 against TCU's Trevor Johnson. Vukic grinded out a 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(4) win to become Illinois' 15th men's tennis player to reach 100 career singles wins and the first since former three-time All-American, Jared Hiltzik, in 2015. The Sydney, Australia native, won his first singles match at the Southern Intercollegiates in Athens, Georgia on September 12, 2014. Vukic bested Kennesaw State's Simon Pritchard, 6-3, 6-4. Over the next 1,268 days, Vukic won 99 more singles matches.
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