CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - DePaul, Notre Dame and Western Michigan will travel to Champaign this weekend for the Champaign NCAA Regionals. Illinois will face DePaul at 4 pm CT on Friday. If they advance they will play the winner of Notre Dame/Western Michigan Saturday at 3 pm CT.
Live stats and live stream for all matches will be available through fightingillini.com. Photos from matches as well as results will be available at https://uofi.box.com/v/2021MTennisMedia.
Tournament Schedule
Match 1 – Notre Dame vs. Western Michigan – Friday, May 7, 1 p.m. CT
Match 2 – Illinois vs. DePaul – Friday, May 7, 4 p.m. CT
Match 3 – Match 1 winner vs. Match 2 winner – Saturday, May 8, 3 p.m. CT
Weekend Opponents At a Glance
» Illinois' first-round opponent, DePaul, claimed its first-ever BIG EAST title this season.
» The Blue Demons enter the NCAA Tournament with a 15-6 overall record and went 3-1 in conference play. The Illini hold a 4-0 advantage in the all-time series.
» Notre Dame owns a 14-10 overall record and a 7-5 mark in ACC play during 2021. Illinois is 30-24 all-time against the Irish.
» Western Michigan came to Urbana for the 2019 NCAA Tournament – the last time Illinois hosted the first and second rounds – with the Illini earning a 4-0 win over the Broncos in the first round. WMU claimed its 26th Mid-American Conference Regular Season Championship this past weekend and enters the tournament with a 22-1 overall record and a 9-0 mark in league action. The Illini lead the all-time series with WMU, 15-2.
Illinois in the NCAA Tournament
» 2021 marks the 25th appearance for the Fighting Illini in the NCAA Championships.
» The Illini boast a record of 50-23 in NCAA Tournament play, highlighted by a 2003 NCAA National Championship.
» The Orange and Blue have appeared in 25-straight NCAA Tournaments, a streak that began in 1996.
» Entering 2021, Illinois has hosted the NCAA First and Second Rounds 19 times with a record of 32-5 when competing in NCAA Tournament play at the Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex.
» The Illini are 21-3 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and have not lost in the opening round since 1998.
» In 2019, Illinois went 1-1 in NCAA play as a First and Second Rounds host in Urbana. The Illini opened the tournament with a sweep of Western Michigan, before falling 4-1 to No. 24 California in the second round.
» 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 Crowned Big Ten Champions
The Illini defeated defending champ Ohio State 4-3 last Sunday to win the Big Ten Tournament in Lincoln. Illinois started out the day with momentum in doubles, they were leading on all courts when play was stopped. They were down 2-1 when freshman Hunter Heck came back to hand JJ Tracy his first loss of the year. Senior Noe Khlif would then go on to defeat Robert Cash 4-6,6-3,7-5 to tie the match at 3-3. What almost seemed like destiny, the match came down to Zeke Clark. After losing the first set in a tiebreak Clark won 6-3 in the second and 7-6(7-4).
To reach the finals they swept Indiana 4-0 in the second round of the tournament and defeated Michigan 4-2 in the semifinals. Against Michigan they lost the doubles point but wins by Kovacevic, Brown, Montsi and Khlif pushed them into the tournament finals.
Clark, Kovacevic and Montsi Selected For NCAA Singles
Zeke Clark, Aleks Kovacevic and Siphosothando Montsi have been selected to play in the 2021 NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championships. Clark was one of 13 automatic qualifiers while Kovacevic and Montsi were at-large selections.
The singles and doubles competition will be conducted May 23-28 at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida, after the conclusion of the team championship, which runs from May 17-22. The University of Central Florida and the Greater Orlando Sports Commission will serve as hosts.
New for the 2021 tournament, alternatives have been named, with Zeke Clark and Alex Brown being named alternatives for the NCAA Doubles Championship.
Illini Win the Big Ten West
Illinois men's finished the regular season with a 4-0 sweep over Indiana last weekend, extending their win streak to 14.
In doubles, Zeke Clark and Alex Brown won their 10th match as a doubles pairing defeating Patrick Fletchall/Andrew Redding 6-3. Siphososothando Montsi and Noé Khlif clinched the doubles point on Court 2 defeating Bennett Crane/Luka Vukovic 6-3. Aleks Kovacevic and Hunter Heck were up 5-3 against Ilya Tiraspolsky/William Piekarsky when doubles play stopped.
In singles, Kovacevic defeated Bennett Crane 6-0,6-2 ion Court 1 before Khlif defeated Vikash Singh 6-1, 6-2 on six. Montsi clinched the match on Court 2. He defeated Andrew Redding 6-2,6-4.
THREE ILLINI NAMED FIRST TEAM ALL-B1G
Zeke Clark, Aleks Kovacevic, and Siphosothando Montsi were named First Team All-Big Ten earlier this week. Kovacevic and Montsi were unanimous honorees.
ZEKE HITS 100
Illinois senior Zeke Clark defeated Albert Sprlak-Puk of Nebraska 6-2, 6-0 against Nebraska to earn his 100 singles match win last Sunday. Clark is 16th on the most career singles list and is the 16th Illini to hit reach 100 singles win.
Fellow senior Aleks Kovacevic is closing in on the mark. Kovacevic has 98 career singles wins.
In The Rankings
Illinois is No. 6 in the USTA coaches poll and No. 17 in the ITA computerized poll. They started their season unranked but receiving votes. After a strong performance over ITA Championship weekend, they jumped to No.6 in the Coaches poll. In the latest singles and doubles ranking on Wednesday, April 28 Illinois had two singles players ranked and two doubles.
Singles Rankings
No.101 - Zeke Clark
No. 124 - Siphos Montsi
Doubles Rankings
No. 38 - Alex Brown and Zeke Clark
No. 64 - Kweisi Kenyatte and Siphos Montsi
Strong Showing at ITA Championships
An unranked Illinois team hosted the top seven team in the country Feb. 12-14. Illinois ended the weekend going 2-1, including defeating the number 1 team in the country. On the first night of the tournament Illinois went up against No. 1 seed and No. 1 ranked team in the country USC. The Illini claimed the doubled point and went on to win the three singles matched required to win. Senior Zeke Clark, had his moment. Playing on the last court in action Clark clinched the win, defeating Ryder Jackson 7-5, 7-5 on Court 4.
After a slip-up against Baylor, Illinois faced No. 7 ranked Virginia on Sunday. Illinois faces an uphill climb after losing the doubles point and was down 3-1 at one point. Alex Bancila, Hunter Heck and Siphos Montsi each won their respective match. For the second time in three days Zeke Clark clinched the upset for the Illini defeating J Von Der Schulenburg 7-6 (1), 4-6, 6-3.
FAMILIAR FACES
Illinois returns four super seniors this year. Vuk Budic, Zeke Clark, Noe Khlif and Aleks Kovacevic all opted-in to the extra year of eligibility. Redshirt junior Alex Brown, redshirt sophomore Siphosothando Montsi, redshirt freshmen Alex Bancila and Lucas Horve also return this season. Junior Kweisi Kenyatte is expected to join the lineup after sitting out last season due to NCAA transfer rules. Joining the Illini is redshirt sophomore Nic Meister, a transfer from Claremont McKenna College and freshmen Hunter Heck and Alex Petrov.
