Box Score

URBANA, Ill. – The No. 8 Fighting Illini men's tennis team defeated the No. 11 Michigan Wolverines, 4-2 on Saturday afternoon at the Atkins Tennis Center. The Illini have extended their winning streak to a season-best five matches and remain an undefeated 6-0 in Big Ten play.

After dropping the doubles point, sophomore Zeke Clark got the Illini on the board with a dominating, 6-1, 6-3 win at the No. 5 position over Mattias Siimar. Michigan was re-took the lead with Hua's win on two. Illinois responded with three-straight singles victories to seal the match. Sophomore Aleks Kovacevic extended his singles winning streak to five matches with a win on four. Senior Aleks Vukic continued his winning ways with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Michigan's No. 7-ranked Alex Knight. In the end, freshman Alex Brown clinched the match, 7-5, 6-4 on court three.

Up next, the Illini will host Michigan State at noon tomorrow at the Atkins Tennis Center.

Illini Notes

• Michigan is the 11^th ITA-ranked opponent the Illini have faced this season. Illinois is now 7-4 against those Top-25 teams.
• Illinois extended its winning streak to a season-best five matches.
• Clark extended his singles winning streak to six matches.
• Kovacevic has won five-straight singles matches.

Final Results

#8 Illinois 4, #11 Michigan 2

Doubles-Order of Finish: 3, 2*

1. #74 Hiltzik/Vukic (Illinois) vs. Johnston/Schalet (Michigan) 6-6, unf.
2. Hua/Mattias Siimar (Michigan) def. Clark/Kovacevic (Illinois) 7-5
3. Brown/Knight (Michigan) def. Brown/Chakravarthi (Illinois) 6-3

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

1. #21 Aleks Vukic (Illinois) def. #7 Alex Knight (Michigan) 7-5, 6-3
2. #34 Runhao Hua (Michigan) def. Aron Hiltzik (Illinois) 6-4, 6-1
3. #63 Alex Brown (Illinois) def. Myles Schalet (Michigan) 7-5, 6-4
4. Aleks Kovacevic (Illinois) def. Carter Lin (Michigan) 6-3, 7-5  
5. Zeke Clark (Illinois) def. Mattias Siimar (Michigan) 6-1, 6-3
6. Caleb Chakravarthi (Illinois) vs. Davis Crocker (Michigan) 6-7(4), 2-1, unf.  

Records: Illinois (15-5, 6-0) | Michigan (15-4, 4-2)

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