Box Score

URBANA, Ill. – The No. 8 Illinois men's tennis team used a 6-1 win over the Michigan State Spartans to improve to 16-5 overall this season and a perfect 7-0 in Big Ten play. The Illini extended their season-long winning streak to six matches.

Illinois earned the doubles point with wins on courts two and three on Sunday afternoon. Sophomores Vuk Budic and Aleks Kovacevic topped Carlin and Winkler, 6-1 at the No. 3 position. Freshmen Alex Brown and Caleb Chakravarthi clinched their team-leading eighth doubles point with a 6-4 win against Dube and Mukherjee on court two.

In singles play, senior Aron Hiltzik dominated MSU's Mukherjee for a 6-0, 6-2 win on two. Kovacevic was next off the court with his sixth-straight singles win. The New York native defeated Michael Dube, 6-1, 6-2 at the No. 3 position. Chakravarthi sealed the Illinois match win playing on court four for the first time this season. The Illini freshman won 6-4, 6-0 over Jasper Koenen.

Up next, the Illini travel east for a pair of Big Ten opponents. First, Illinois will face the current No. 3-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus at 11 am CT on Saturday. The Orange and Blue then travel to Penn State for a Sunday matchup with the Nittany Lions also at 11 am CT.

Illini Notes

• The Illini extended their season-long winning streak to six matches.
• Illinois has won 26-straight matches against the Spartans dating back to the 1997 season.
• The Orange and Blue's seven-match Big Ten winning streak sits at No. 6 in the Illinois record books and is the program's longest string of wins against Big Ten foes since the 2016 season.
• During Illinois's six-match winning streak, the Illini have played six different singles lineups.
• The Illini are 15-0 when winning at the No. 6 position and 7-0 when winning at the No. 5 position.
• Illinois is 12-2 when winning the doubles point and 6-0 when winning the doubles point at home.
• Kovacevic extended his singles winning streak to six matches.
• Chakravarthi played at the No. 4 position for the first time this season and clinched his fourth Illini victory of the season.
• Brown and Chakravarthi clinched a team-best eighth doubles point.

Final Results

#8 Illinois 6, Michigan State 1

Doubles-Order of Finish: 3, 2*

1. #74 Hiltzik/Vukic (Illinois) vs. Forman/Koenen (MSU) 5-4, unf.
2. Brown/Chakravarthi (Illinois) def. Dube/Mukherjee (MSU) 6-4
3. Budic/Kovacevic (Illinois) def. Carlin/Winkler (MSU) 6-1

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

1. Brett Forman (MSU) def. #17 Aleks Vukic (Illinois) 7-5, 5-7, 1-0(7)
2. Aron Hiltzik (Illinois) def. Josh Mukherjee (MSU) 6-0, 6-2
3. Aleks Kovacevic (Illinois) def. Michael Dube (MSU) 6-1, 6-2
4. Caleb Chakravarthi (Illinois) def. Jasper Koenen (MSU) 6-4, 6-0
5. Vuk Budic (Illinois) def. Davis Wong (MSU) 6-4, 3-6, 1-0(6)
6. Noe Khlif (Illinois) def. John Carlin (MSU) 6-1, 7-6(2)

Records: Illinois (16-5, 7-0) | Michigan State (8-14, 1-6)

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