CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Illinois women's tennis head coach Evan Clark and the University of Illinois have agreed to a three-year contract extension through 2025-26, Director of Athletics Josh Whitman announced Tuesday. The extension is pending approval by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees at its meeting next week. 

"We are pleased with the progress our women's tennis program has shown under Evan's leadership, and we are excited for him to continue building on the foundation he has spent his early years creating," said Whitman. "Evan has worked exceptionally hard in recruiting, and his teams have performed at a high level. Just as importantly, away from the court, Evan's student-athletes have embraced all facets of their opportunity at the University of Illinois. With Evan's continued leadership, I have great confidence in the future of Fighting Illini Women's Tennis and look forward to them achieving even greater heights."

"I want to thank Josh Whitman for his unwavering support of me and our program over the years," opened Evan Clark. "Josh gave me my initial opportunity to lead this program and I'm so grateful that he continues to trust me to lead the Illinois Women's Tennis program moving forward. Our athletic department's commitment and support is second to none, so I am extremely proud and very fortunate to be the head coach at this great university."

Under Coach Clark, Illinois has emerged as one of the premier programs in the Big Ten, having finished third, fourth, tied for fourth and tied for third in the conference within the last six years. 

The 2021-22 campaign was one of growth and promise as the Illini ended the regular season with a 15-8 overall record and finished tied for third with an 8-3 mark in the Big Ten Conference, marking the fifth time in six seasons (excluding 2020 due to COVID-19) that the Illini finished fourth or better in the conference standings. Illinois closed its regular season home slate with an impressive 11-1 record, a tie for the second-most wins in a home schedule in program history. 

"Any benefit, praise, award or extension that I have received is a direct result of my student-athletes' success and hard work on the court and in the classroom," Clark continued. "It is their hard work in the classroom, in practice and their performance in matches that makes any of this possible for me."

Coach Clark's current contract is in the last of the five-year term. Currently in his seventh season at the helm of the Fighting Illini program, Clark arrived on campus in December 2014 as an assistant coach before spending the 2015-16 campaign as the interim head coach. His interim title would be removed in June 2016 and two years later Clark earned his first contract extension.

Across his time at Illinois, Clark has led the Illini to a 97-67 dual record including a 50-25 mark in Big Ten play. Including his time as the head coach at UNC-Wilmington, Clark owns a 128-78 record overall.

Illinois has appeared in the ITA national rankings regularly under Clark, making its way into the ranks in four of five traditional seasons. Clark has helped the Illini soar into the top 10, climbing as high as No. 5 for multiple weeks.

In 2018, Clark was tabbed the Big Ten and ITA Midwest Region Coach of the Year. He followed that up with another ITA Midwest Region Coach of the Year nod in 2019. Illinois appeared in the NCAA Tournament as a team both of those seasons. 

Asuka Kawai became just the fourth Illini in program history to earn All-American honors in 2019 with a deep run in the NCAA Tournament's singles bracket in her second season under Clark's guidance.

Student-athletes continue to succeed both on the court and in the classroom under Clark. Between ITA All-Academic Team honors, ITA Scholar-Athlete selections, and Academic All-Big Ten, Clark's Illini keep setting the bar higher.

Already during the 2022-23 season, Clark has seen his doubles duo of Kate Duong and Megan Heuser become just the third Illini tandem to win an ITA regional championship crown, not to mention taking down the No. 1 ranked pair at the ITA National Fall Championships.

"I'm very confident in our current players and staff and excited to continue to build towards making Illinois Women's Tennis into a consistent championship contender," closed Clark.