NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The No. 15 Fighting Illini men's tennis team are primed for its first road test against the No. 13 Fighting Irish on Wednesday afternoon at 4 p.m. CT. Under head coach Brad Dancer, Illinois leads series 11-4, including six consecutive wins starting in 2014. In a competitive series, the Orange and Blue lead the Fighting Irish 28-24 overall.

Last season, Illinois hosted Notre Dame in a 4-1 win. Dynamic duo Alex Brown and Caleb Chakravarthi clinched the doubles point, while Chakravarthi battled back in a three-set victory to clinch the match, 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 over William Howells.

Scouting the Opposition | No. 13 Notre Dame (6-0)

A three-time All-American (1998-2000) and legendary Notre Dame player, Ryan Sachire took the reins of the Fighting Irish on July 1, 2013 after serving two seasons as an assistant coach and five as the associate head coach. Sachire become the seventh head coach in the 91-year history of the program… With an 85-63 record, Sachire has led the Notre Dame to 10 consecutive NCAA Championship appearances and a semifinalist finish at the 2013 ACC Championship… While in the BIG EAST conference, Sachire earned three conference championships (2007-08, 2013) and two runner-up finishes (2010-11)… Led by All-ACC honorees Alex Lebedev and Richard Ciamarra, along with junior Guillermo Cabrera. Sophomore sensations William Howells and Tristan McCormick also add depth to the team. The Fighting Irish welcome freshmen duo Andrew Mariados and Axel Nefve.

Match Points

• The Illini have a six-match winning streak against the Fighting Irish beginning in 2014. The Orange and Blue have not lost to Notre Dame in Urbana since March 7, 2002 (10 matches).
• Wednesday's match will be the first Top-15 matchup between the Illini and Fighting Irish since No. 13 Illinois took on No. 12 Notre Dame in Urbana on March 1, 2008.
• The last time the Orange and Blue shutout the Fighting Irish was on Jan. 23, 2016.
• The Fighting Irish marks the Illini's sixth ITA-ranked opponent in 2019 and first during the dual match season.
• Notre Dame is the Illini's first match during a seven-day stretch where Illinois has three matches before traveling to the Windy City next week for a dual against No. 7 UCLA and hosting ITA National Indoors.

Last Time Out

The No. 15 Fighting Illini men's tennis team defeated the Duke Blue Devils, 6-1 on Feb. 1 at Atkins Tennis Center. With the 1-0 record, Illinois continued their season-opening dual match streak to 13 out of the 14 seasons under head coach Brad Dancer.

On court two, junior Aleks Kovacevic and freshman Keenan Mayo clinched the doubles point, defeating Robert Levine and Jason Lapidus, 6-4. In singles, Mayo clinched the match, 6-4, 6-4, for the Illini with an exhilarating victory over Robert Levine. Juniors Noe Khlif and Zeke Clark both persevered in their singles performance. Khlif defeated Vincent Lin in a three-set victory, 6-0, 5-7, 6-3, while Clark earned the final team point for the Illini with a third set tiebreaker win against Catalin Mateas.

Host Illinois Earn Automatic Berth to ITA National Team Indoor Championships

The University of Illinois Men's Team will host the ITA National Team Indoor Championship on February 15-18, 2019 at Midtown Athletic Club in Chicago, Ill. In its 44th year of existence, this will be the fifth time the Orange and Blue has hosted this tournament with the last being in 2015. As the host site, Illinois received an automatic bid to the event and was exempt from competing in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend. The Illini have won the team championship twice in program history (2003, 2004).

Kovacevic Kicks-off 2019 with Weekly Conference Honor

Fighting Illini junior Aleks Kovacevic was named the Big Ten Tennis Athlete of the Week, as announced by the league office on Jan. 22. Kovacevic went 4-2 overall in the Illini's last tune-up tournament, the MLK Invitational in Atlanta, Ga.

Ranked No. 44, the junior swept his matches for the first day of competition against No. 12 Georgia and host Georgia Tech. His run was highlighted by an upset win over No. 2 Jan Zielinski (Georgia), defeating the Bulldog 6-2, 7-6(4). The conference honor marks the first time the New York native has won this award and first for the Illini men's tennis squad this season. The last Illini men's tennis player to earn this accomplishment was Illini alum and current professional tennis player, Aleks Vukic (April 24, 2018).

West Joins Dancer's Staff

Illinois tennis head coaches, Brad Dancer (Men's Tennis) and Evan Clark (Women's Tennis) announced on July 10, 2018 the addition of Eric West to their respective staffs as Director of Operations. He brings both Division I playing and coaching experience, along with high-level youth coaching experience to the Illini. During his collegiate career, West spent his last three years at Oklahoma state where he was selected as an All-Big 12 second-team selection in 2012 and totaled 47 career singles wins and 40 career doubles. He also helped the Cowboys achieve a spot in the top-25 national rankings several times throughout his career.

West joins the Fighting Illini Tennis programs after three seasons as an assistant coach for the Cincinnati Bearcats women's tennis program. Prior to Cincinnati, he worked as an assistant tennis professional at the Shadow Mountain Racquet Club & Oak Tree Country Club in Tulsa, Okla. Following his playing career, he also spent one season as a Volunteer Assistant Coach at Oklahoma State from 2012-13. Completed his professional career by participating in many ITF Future and ATP Challenger Tournaments.

Illini Lineup Returns

Illinois returns eight players from the 2017-18 squad, including six letterwinners. Without any seniors on the team, the Illini juniors Vuk Budic, Zeke Clark, Gui Gomes, Noe Khlif, and Aleks Kovacevic will provide leadership and guidance for the team. With a year under their belt, sophomore duo Alex Brown and Caleb Chakravarthi will add depth to the Illini lineup.

Newcomers

Head Coach Brad Dancer adds four freshmen to the program – Lucas Horve (Forsyth, Ill.), Keenan Mayo (Long Beach, Calif.), Siphosothando Montsi (East London, South Africa), and early enrollee Alex Bancila (Lake Bluff, Ill.). Local five-star recruits, Horve and Bancila, along with Mayo and Montsi are excepted to make an immediate impact for the Illini after successful ITF junior careers.

In the Rankings

For the fourth consecutive time, the Illini opened up 2019 ranked in the top 20 nationally heading into dual match season. Currently at No. 15 in the Oracle/ITA team rankings, the Illini concluded a successful fall season, ranked among the nation's best.

Illinois had over half of their roster represented in the post-fall season Oracle/ITA rankings. Both earning career-highs in singles play, Brown earned a top-10 finish, while Kovacevic ranked No. 44. In his first year of collegiate play, freshman Keenan Mayo placed No. 71, while juniors Noe Khlif and Clark ranked No. 90 and No. 92, respectively. After a successful fall season, Khlif and redshirt sophomore Gui Gomes made the ITA rankings for the first time in doubles play, ranked at No. 32 overall.

Next Serve

The No. 14 Fighting Illini return to Atkins Tennis Center to host a pair of competitive non-conference opponents. On Friday, Illinois will host SEC opponent, Kentucky Wildcats. With the series tied at 16-16, the Orange and Blue look to avenge last year's loss to takes over the series lead.

In a marquee matchup, the Illini will welcome No. 8 North Carolina for a top-10 matchup on Saturday night. The last time Illinois posted a win against the Tar Heels was on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2015 in a close 4-3 contest inside Atkins Tennis Center.

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