CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Fighting Illini men's tennis team began the Fighting Illini Invite with a victory in the doubles tournament before picking up two ranked singles wins in the hidden dual. The three-team event – featuring student-athletes from Illinois, No. 8 Columbia, and Boise State – will continue through Sunday at Atkins Tennis Center.
The first day of action started with William Mroz and Jeremy Zhang teaming up to secure the doubles tournament title. Mroz/Zhang earned a comfortable 6-2 triumph over Boise State's Julius Seifert/Dylan Jaen to open the morning. They followed it up with a 6-3 decision against the Bronco duo of Carson Baker and John Chin to claim the crown.
Mathis Debru and Kenta Miyoshi also prevailed in both of their doubles matches, posting a come-from-behind 7-6(3) victory over Columbia's Nicolas Kotzen and Michael Zheng before recording a 6-4 victory against the Lions' Max Westphal and Sachin Palta.
Tyler Bowers and Zach Viiala split their two doubles matches, with the Illini duo defeating Boise State's Seifert/Jaen in the second set of action.
After Boise State and Columbia played a round of singles, Illinois played its hidden dual, which featured a full slate of Orange and Blue singles and doubles players against a combination of student-athletes representing the Broncos and Lions.
William Mroz triumphed in a three-set battle with No. 111 Jett Middleton. After taking the first set and dropping the second, Mroz bagged a late break and registered an ace on match point to pick up his first ranked victory of the spring.
Miyoshi logged the Illini's second ranked win of the evening shortly after. Despite dropping the opening set, Miyoshi bounced back with 6-3 decisions in both the second and third frames to tally a three-set triumph over Columbia's No. 42 Nicolas Kotzen.
Action will resume at Atkins Tennis Center on Saturday at 12 p.m. CT.
DAY 1 RESULTSÂ
Doubles tournament
Kenta Miyoshi/Mathis Debru (Illinois) def. Nicolas Kotzen/Michael Zheng (Columbia), 7-6(3)
No. 75 Hugo Hashimoto/Jayden Templeman (Columbia) def. Lukas Velik/Jett Middleton (Boise State), 6-4
Max Westphal/Sachin Palta (Columbia) def. No. 52 Tyler Bowers/Zach Viiala (Illinois), 6-4
William Mroz/Jeremy Zhang (Illinois) def. Julius Seifert/Dylan Jaen (Boise State), 6-2
Jordan Chang/Andrew Kotzen (Columbia) def. Carson Baker/John Chin (Boise State), 7-6(4)
Idriss Haddouch/Taiyo Kurata (Boise State) def. Max Mroz (Illinois)/Thanaphat Boosarawongse (Columbia), 7-6(5)
Kenta Miyoshi/Mathis Debru (Illinois) def. Max Westphal/Sachin Palta (Columbia), 6-4
Nicolas Kotzen/Michael Zheng (Columbia) def. Lukas Velik/Jett Middleton (Boise State), 6-2
No. 52 Tyler Bowers/Zach Viiala (Illinois) def. Julius Seifert/Dylan Jaen (Boise State), 6-3
William Mroz/Jeremy Zhang (Illinois) def. Carson Baker/John Chin (Boise State), 6-3
Jordan Chang/Andrew Kotzen (Columbia) def. Max Mroz (Illinois)/James Van Herzeele (Boise State), 6-0
No. 75 Hugo Hashimoto/Jayden Templeman (Columbia) def. Idriss Haddouch/Taiyo Kurata (Boise State), 6-4
Boise State vs. Columbia singles matches
Michael Zheng (Columbia) def. Julius Seifert (Boise State), 7-5, 6-3
Sachin Palta (Columbia) def. James Van Herzeele (Boise State), 6-2, 6-3
Thanaphat Boosarawongse (Columbia) def. Idriss Haddouch (Boise State), 6-2, 6-1
Jayden Templeman (Columbia) def. Lukas Velik (Boise State), 6-2, 6-1
Andrew Kotzen (Columbia) def. John Chin (Boise State), 3-6, 6-2, 7-6(4)
Jordan Chang (Columbia) def. Dylan Jaen (Boise State), 6-3, 6-4
Hidden dual
No. 75 Hugo Hashimoto/Jayden Templeman (Columbia) def. No. 52 Tyler Bowers/Zach Viiala (Illinois), 6-4
Carson Baker/Jett Middleton (Boise State) def. William Mroz/Jeremy Zhang (Illinois), 6-2
Nicolas Kotzen/Michael Zheng (Columbia) def. Kenta Miyoshi/Max Mroz (Illinois), 7-6(2)
Jordan Chang/Thanaphat Boosarawongse (Columbia) def. Dylan Jaen/Lucas Velik (Boise State), 6-1
Max Westphal/Sachin Palta (Columbia) def. Taiyo Kurata/Julius Seifert (Boise State), 6-1
No. 14 Kenta Miyoshi (Illinois) def. No. 42 Nicolas Kotzen (Columbia), 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
No. 30 William Mroz (Illinois) def. No. 111 Jett Middleton (Boise State), 6-0, 3-6, 6-3
Max Westphal (Columbia) def. Tyler Bowers (Illinois), 7-5, 4-6, 6-4
Carson Baker (Boise State) def. Zach Viiala (Illinois), 6-3, 6-3
No. 33 Hugo Hashimoto (Columbia) def. Jeremy Zhang (Illinois), 6-3, 7-6(4)
Taiyo Kurata (Boise State) def. Max Mroz (Illinois), 6-4, 6-1
