DURHAM, N.C. – Illinois fell on the road to No. 7 Duke, 4-1, at the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center in Durham, North Carolina, on Friday night.
The Illini moved to 1-2 on the season, with both losses coming on the road to top-15 teams, while the Blue Devils remained undefeated and improved to 5-0.
William Mroz and Jeremy Zhang broke late to take their match at No. 3 doubles, but the Blue Devils used wins at No. 1 and 2 to secure the doubles point and take an early 1-0 advantage.
With the match moving to singles play, Tyler Bowers got the Illini on the board with a straight-set victory at No. 4 singles over Duke's No. 37 Sam Landau. After taking the first set, 6-2, Bowers powered through in the second frame, 6-4, to earn his first ranked singles win of the season.
The hosts ultimately claimed the final three decisions of the night at No. 5, 2, and 3 to clinch the home victory for the Blue Devils.
Illinois (1-2) will remain in the Tar Heel State to take on North Carolina on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT.
RESULTS
Doubles
No. 1: Pedro Rodenas/Theo Winegar (Duke) def. No. 52 Tyler Bowers/Zach Viiala (Illinois), 6-4
No. 2: Cooper Williams/Andreja Petrovic (Duke) def. Mathis Debru/Kenta Miyoshi (Illinois), 6-4
No. 3: William Mroz/Jeremy Zhang (Illinois) def. Connor Krug/Remy Dugardin (Duke), 6-4
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1
Singles
No. 1: No. 14 Kenta Miyoshi (Illinois) vs. No. 47 Cooper Williams (Duke), 6-7(7), 5-5, unf.
No. 2: No. 38 Pedro Rodenas (Duke) def. No. 30 William Mroz (Illinois), 6-4, 6-4
No. 3: Andreja Petrovic (Duke) def. Jeremy Zhang (Illinois), 6-2, 7-6(5)
No. 4: Tyler Bowers (Illinois) def. No. 37 Sam Landau (Duke), 6-2, 6-4
No. 5: Connor Krug (Duke) def. Zach Viiala (Illinois), 6-4, 6-4
No. 6: Mathis Debru (Illinois) vs. Remy Dugardin (Duke), 6-7(6), 6-3, unf.
Order of finish: 4, 5, 2, 3
Duration: 2:37
