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URBANA, Ill. – The Fighting Illini men's tennis team swept the Vanderbilt Commodores, 4-0, on Sunday afternoon at the Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex. Illinois advances to the NCAA Round of 16 for the 16^th time in program history.

Doubles play began with the Illini freshmen Alex Brown and Caleb Chakravarthi earning their first ranked win over Vandy's No. 11 Klinger and Rowe, 6-3. Senior Aron Hiltzik and sophomore Aleks Kovacevic fought back from down, 4-1, to clinch the point, 7-5 on court two.

Sophomore Zeke Clark continued his winning ways with a 6-2, 6-2 victory on court five. Clark has won 13-straight singles matches. Kovacevic was next off the court with a 6-3, 6-2 defeat of Billy Rowe. In the end, senior Aleks Vukic clinched the match, 6-4, 6-4 on court one to punch the Illini's ticket to the NCAA Championships in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

The Illini will now take on the TCU Horned Frogs in the NCAA Round of 16. First serve from the Wake Forest Tennis Complex is set for Friday at 3 pm CT.

Illini Notes

• Illinois improves to 48-21 in NCAA Tournament play.
• Illinois is 31-4 when competing in the NCAA Tournament at home.
• Illinois is making its 23^rd-straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
• Illinois is makes its 16^th appearance in the NCAA Round of 16.
• Illinois is now 4-1 all-time against Vanderbilt in the NCAA Tournament.
• Illinois opened the NCAA Tournament with back-to-back sweeps for the first time since 2006. The Illini have swept the opening two rounds five times in program history (2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2018).
• Illinois's 23 wins this season sit at No. 10 in the Illinois record books and the most since the 2015 squad won 27 matches.
• Illinois's 10-match home winning streak sits at No. 7 in the Illinois record books and the longest since the Illini's run of 17 matches from February 5, 2014 to January 30, 2015.  
• Illinois completed 2018 with an 11-1 record at home, the most home wins for the Illini since 2016.  
• The Illini are 17-2 when winning the doubles point.
• The Illini are 18-0 when winning at the No. 5 position.
• The Illini are 15-4 when winning at the No. 4 position.
• The Illini are 13-2 when winning at the No. 1 position.
• Vanderbilt was the Illini's 15^th ITA-ranked opponent this season. The Illini are 9-6 against those Top-25 foes.
• Vukic moves up to No. 9 on the Illinois Career Singles Wins list with 108 victories. The Sydney, Australia, native is now tied with Tim Kopinski and Jeff Laski.
• Vukic is 5-1 in NCAA singles matches.
• Clark extended his winning singles streak to 13 matches.
• Clark is 4-0 in NCAA singles matches.
• Kovacevic has won 10-straight singles matches.
• Kovacevic is 3-1 in NCAA singles matches.
• Hiltzik and Kovacevic clinched the doubles point for the second-straight match.
• Brown and Chakravarthi earned their first ranked win in doubles.

Final Results

Illinois 4, Vanderbilt 0

Doubles-Order of Finish: 1, 2*

1. Brown/Chakravarthi (Illinois) def. #11 Klinger/Rowe (Vandy) 6-3
2. Hiltzik/Kovacevic (Illinois) def. McPhee/Freeman (Vandy) 7-5
3. Budic/Vukic (Illinois) vs. Harwell/Newman (Vandy) 6-5, unf.

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

1. #13 Aleks Vukic (Illinois) def. #26 Cameron Klinger (Vandy) 6-4, 6-4
2. #87 Alex Brown (Illinois) vs. #31 Daniel Valent (Vandy) 3-6, 4-5, unf.
3. Aron Hiltzik (Illinois) vs. #124 Baker Newman (Vandy) 7-6(3), 0-2, unf.
4. Aleks Kovacevic (Illinois) def. Billy Rowe (Vandy) 6-3, 6-2
5. Zeke Clark (Illinois) de. Maxwell Freeman (Vandy) 6-2, 6-2
6. Caleb Chakravarthi (Illinois) vs. George Harwell (Vandy) 6-2, 2-5, unf.

Records: Illinois (23-7) | Vanderbilt (19-9)

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