Illinois men's tennis will close out their regular season against Eastern Illinois, Indiana and Purdue this weekend. On Sunday Illinois will honor Alex Brown, Siphosothando Montsi and Olivier Stuart for senior day.
Illinois is 16-1 all-time against the Panther, last playing in 1985. The Illini are on a eight and five win streak against Indiana and Purdue respectively and lead both all-time series. Illinois as 98 win against Purdue, their most over any men's tennis program.
Last Time Out
Illinois defeated instate rival Northwestern last weekend 4-1. The Illini quickly won the doubles point against the wildcats. Gabrielius Guzauskas/Alex Brown defeated #66 Forman/Nordby 6-2 on court 1. Hunter Heck/Olivier Stuart swiftly followed on court 2, defeating Bratholm/B.Berusco 6-3. Hunter Heck extended his win streak to eight, defeating #30 Forman 7-6(3), 6-4 to put Illinois up 2-1. Guzauskas extended the Illini's lead with a straight set win over B. Berdusco 6-3,6-3 on court 6. Montsi clinched the upset for Illinois on court 2 defeating Bratholm 7-6(5), 6-4.
In The Rankings
In the singles rankings, released Wednesday (April 20) Illinois had two singles and all three primary doubles team ranked. Graduate transfer Olivier Stuart ranked at #61 and sophomore Hunter Heck #65. The doubles pairing of Hunter Heck and Lucas Horve were ranked #60 while Guzauskas/Brown moved back in at #71 and Montsi/Stuart ranked at #79.
Key Pieces Return
Alex Brown, Hunter Heck, and Siphosothando Montsi all return to the team in 2022. Brown was an All-American in 2020 and played doubles no. 1 and singles no. 2 for Illinois last season. Monsti, who reached the Sweet 16 last season in the singles tournament and was named and All-American after posting a 16-3 singles record during the season is back. Kenyatte missed the second half of the season with an injury but had a couple key wins for Illinois including in their season opening upset of No. 1 USC. After a successful freshman season where his comeback win 0-6, 6-3, 7-5 against JJ Tracy who had been undefeated until then gave Illinois a point in the Big Ten Championship.
New Faces
Last season fifth year seniors Zeke Clark, Aleks Kovacevic, and Noe Khilf played big roles in the teams success. To fill the holes left but the graduated senior Brad Dancer and assistant coach March Asse brought in four new Illini. The first was Mercer transfer Olivier Stuart who played four years at Mercer before sitting out last season and transferred to the Illini. Stuart is joined by freshmen Gabrielius Guzauskas, Will Mroz and Karlis Ozolins.
B1G Champs
Illinois was the first Big Ten West Division Title winner last season. Following the regular season championship Illinois was a no. 1 seed in the Big Ten tournament. The defeated Indiana 4-0 before matching up against Michigan in the semifinals. Illinois battled back to defeated the Wolverines 4-2. In the finals they were up against OSU, who they lost two in the regular season. The match lasted over three hours and the Illinois came out with the 4-3 win.
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