Final Results (PDF)
EVANSTON, Ill. - Fighting Illini men's tennis started Big Ten play with a victory Saturday, outlasting No. 23 Northwestern by a score of 4-3 at the Combe Tennis Center. Senior Zeke Clark battled through a three-set match that ended in a 7-6 (4), 5-7, 6-3 win for the final point of the match. Brad Dancer became the first head coach in Illini history to reach the 300 win mark with the victory.
"Overall, just a complete team victory," Dancer said. "Doubles. Singles. Bench. Alumni and fans. We''ve been limping along and not able to capitalize on opportunities all season. Today our guys came out with great intensity and focus, and then we hit that wall and Northwestern fought back and it got super tough."
Illinois claimed the doubles point as junior Alex Brown and senior Aleks Kovacevic won on Court 1, followed shortly by a win on Court 2 by redshirt junior Gui Gomes and sophomore Siphosothando Montsi, both by identical 6-3 scores. The Fighting Illini took control early in singles, winning four of six first sets, but the Wildcats made their presence felt, as four singles courts went three sets.
Junior Fletcher Scott was the first Illini to pick up a singles win, taking down Northwestern's Trice Pickens, 6-2, 6-4 on Court 5. Brown, the No. 15 ranked singles player in the country, picked up a win on Court 1 over No. 70 Dominik Stary on Court 1 to make the Orange and Blue advantage 3-1. Northwestern won on Courts 2 and 3, but Clark dug deep to win four of the final five games on Court 4 to secure the win.Â
"Proud of the guys for the approach they took to this match, and happy for Zeke to have that clinching moment," Dancer said. "It's tough to win on the road in the conference, and we have to turn it around tomorrow. So lots of stretching. Lots of recovery. Get back at it tomorrow."
The Illini continue conference play Sunday as they host Purdue at 3 p.m.
