KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Illinois dropped its ITA Kickoff Weekend opener to No. 14 Tennessee, 4-2, on Saturday afternoon at Goodfriend Tennis Center in Knoxville, Tennessee.
The Illini won the doubles point and doubled their lead by taking the first singles match of the day, but the ranked Volunteers posted the final four singles triumphs of the day.
After Illinois dropped its doubles match at No. 2, Tyler Bowers and Zach Viiala broke on the first game at No. 1 and held serve the rest of the way en route to a 6-4 victory. At No. 3, both sides held serve through the first nine games. Leading 5-4, William Mroz and Jeremy Zhang broke for the first time in the 10th game to take their match and give the Orange and Blue the doubles point.
With both teams switching gears to singles, Mathis Debru extended Illinois' advantage with a straight-set victory at No. 6. After taking the first set, Debru broke three times in the second en route to a 6-4, 6-0 triumph to bring the score up to 2-0 in the Orange and Blue's favor.
Four consecutive wins from Tennessee ultimately guided the home side to a 4-2 win. Four of the six singles matches went to a decisive third set.
Illinois will face Auburn on Sunday morning in its final match of ITA Kickoff Weekend. Action from Goodfriend Tennis Center in Knoxville, Tennessee, will begin at 9 a.m. CT.
RESULTS
Doubles
No. 1: No. 52 Tyler Bowers/Zach Viiala def. Alex Kotzen/Shunsuke Mitsui (Tennessee), 6-4
No. 2: Alan Jesudason/Jan Kobierski (Tennessee) def. Mathis Debru/Kenta Miyoshi (Illinois), 6-4
No. 3: William Mroz/Jeremy Zhang (Illinois) def. Alejandro Moreno/James Newton (Tennessee), 6-4
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3
Singles
No. 1: No. 34 Alex Kotzen (Tennessee) def. No. 14 Kenta Miyoshi (Illinois), 6-4, 6-3
No. 2: No. 18 Shunsuke Mitsui (Tennessee) def. No. 30 William Mroz (Illinois), 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
No. 3: Jose Garcia (Tennessee) def. Jeremy Zhang (Illinois), 7-5, 3-6, 6-1
No. 4: Tyler Bowers (Illinois) vs. Jan Kobierski (Tennessee), 4-6, 6-3, 5-5, unfinished
No. 5: No. 56 Alejandro Moreno (Tennessee) def. Zach Viiala (Illinois), 6-1, 5-7, 6-4
No. 6: Mathis Debru (Illinois) def. Ian Cruz (Tennessee), 6-4, 6-0
Order of finish: 6, 1, 2, 3, 5
