Sunday, May 20
Winston-Salem, N.C.
1 PM CT
University of Illinois
vs
Wake Forest
Illini to Face No. 1 Wake Forest in NCAA Quarterfinals Sunday
May 19, 2018 | Men's Tennis
NCAA Quarterfinals vs. Wake Forest
| Date | Sunday vs. Wake Forest - 1 pm CT |
| Location | Wake Forest Tennis Complex | Winston-Salem, North Carolina |
| Live Links | Scoring and Streaming |
| 2018 Information | Match Notes | NCAA Tournament Bracket | NCAA Championships Central | Record Book |
The Illinois men's tennis team swept the TCU Horned Frogs on Friday night to advance to the NCAA Quarterfinals for the first time since 2007. The Orange and Blue are now set for a match against the No. 1-ranked Wake Forest Demon Deacons on Sunday afternoon. First serve from Winston-Salem is set for 1 pm CT.
Match Points
- Illinois is making its seventh appearance in the NCAA quarterfinals.
- The last time UI defeated a No. 1-ranked opponent was on January 29, 2006 when No. 4 Illinois defeated No. 1 Virginia, 5-2 at Atkins Tennis Center.
- Illinois and Wake Forest have never met in the NCAA Tournament.
- Wake Forest is the fourth No. 1-ranked opponent the Illini will face in an NCAA Tournament. The Illini are 0-3 against No. 1-ranked teams in NCAA Tournament play.
- Wake Forest swept Illinois on March 20 in Winston-Salem.
Illinois in the NCAA Tournament
- 2018 marks the 23rd appearance for the Fighting Illini in the NCAA Championships. The Illini boast a record of 49-21 in NCAA Tournament play, highlighted by a 2003 NCAA National Championship.
- The Orange and Blue have appeared in 23-straight NCAA Tournaments, a streak that began in 1996. Illinois has hosted the NCAA First and Second Rounds 18 times with a record of 31-4 when competing in NCAA Tournament play at the Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex.
- The Illini are 20-3 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and have not lost in the opening round since 1998.
- In 2017, UI went 2-1 in NCAA play. Illinois traveled to Stillwater, Oklahoma, for the NCAA Stillwater Regional. The Illini opened play with a sweep of Drake, followed by upsetting host-school, Oklahoma State, in a 4-3 thriller. Illinois's run was ended by TCU, 4-1, at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Georgia.
- Illinois has won one NCAA Team Championship in 2003 after defeating the Vanderbilt Commodores, 4-3, in Athens, Georgia. The 2003 completed the highly-coveted NCAA "Triple Crown" by winning the team championship, as well as the singles and doubles individual championships.
Illinois Notes
- Illinois's 24 wins this season sit at No. 8 in the Illinois record books.
- Illinois advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals for the seventh time in program history (1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2018).
- Illinois has opened the NCAA Tournament with three-straight sweeps for the first time in program history.
- 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 18-2 when winning the doubles point.
- The Illini are 18-0 when winning at the No. 5 position and 14-0 when winning at the No. 6 position.
- Head coach Brad Dancer became Illinois's all-time winningest coach on May 12 as the Illini swept Marquette in the NCAA First Round. Dancer surpassed Illini Hall of Famer, Craig Tiley's 275 wins in the Orange and Blue.
- Vukic moved 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.
- Clark extended his winning singles streak to 13 matches.
- Kovacevic has won 11-straight singles matches.
- Brown and Chakravarthi earned their second-straight ranked doubles win over TCU's No. 6-ranked Nunez and Rybakov.
- Brown and Chakravarthi clinched their team-best 11th doubles point.
- Vukic earned a program-best 11th Big Ten Athlete of the Week honor on April 24.
- Brown has garnered three Big Ten Athlete of the Week awards during his freshman campaign and is the first conference freshman to win three weekly honors since former Illini All-American Jared Hiltzik in 2013.
- Brown and Chakravarthi have clinched a team-best 10 doubles points and combined to clinch 10 Illinois match victories.
- Vukic, Brown and Hiltzik each garnered All-Big Ten honors. Vukic and Brown took home First-Team All-Big Ten accolades and Hiltzik was named to the Second-Team All-Big Ten list.
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