URBANA, Ill. – Illinois marked its return to Atkins Tennis Center with 4-3 wins over Clemson and Notre Dame on Saturday in the team's first home dual matches of the spring.
Kenta Miyoshi clinched the Fighting Illini's victory over the Tigers with a three-set decision at No. 1 singles in the first match of the day, while William Mroz helped the Orange and Blue close out their triumph over the Fighting Irish at No. 2 singles in the second half of their doubleheader.
With the two wins, Illinois improves to 4-2 on the season, with the Illini handing the Tigers their first loss of the campaign and sending the Fighting Irish to 8-2.
"That was a great test for our guys today against two really good teams," said head coach Brad Dancer. "We talked earlier in the week about how it was going to be an awesome challenge for us. We need to get better in doubles, but it was a day of composure in singles. We had it come down to Kenta and Will's matches, and neither of them has been in those situations very often. Those were very difficult situations for them, but their composure and calmness were what got them through.
"We couldn't have gotten into those situations without other individual performances. This was a day in which everybody made contributions, and I'm incredibly happy for Kenta and Will to have those moments with the match on the line and for them to show their resolve."
Illinois 4, Clemson 3
The Tigers claimed the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and 2, sending the Illini into singles action with a 1-0 deficit.Â
Illinois evened the match with a straight-set victory at No. 3 singles. Jeremy Zhang posted his first singles triumph of the dual season, taking down Clemson's Viktor Markov, 6-4, 6-4. After both players held serve through the first eight games of the opening set, Zhang broke in the ninth game before holding in the 10th game. Going up by two breaks in the second frame, Zhang eventually closed out the win from the service line.
The Tigers went back in front with a victory at No. 5 singles, but the Illini were not behind for long following Tyler Bowers' win over Romain Gales on Court 4. Bowers broke early and ultimately claimed a 6-3 first-set decision, and he then fought off multiple set points in the second frame before moving into a second-set tiebreaker. After a back-and-forth breaker, Bowers prevailed, 7-6(8), to remain undefeated in dual play this spring.
Clemson retook the lead with a three-set win at No. 2 singles, but Mathis Debru was not far behind with a victory of his own on Court 6. After securing the first set, 6-2, behind breaks in the fifth and seventh games, Debru dropped the second, 6-2. With both players holding serve across the opening eight games of the final frame, Debru broke in the ninth game before ultimately being broken in the 10th. Breaking once again in the 11th, Debru served for the match and tallied a 7-5 triumph against Max Smith for his third consecutive singles win.
At No. 1 singles against Clemson's No. 51 Noa Vukadin, No. 13 Kenta Miyoshi fell behind early, dropping a 6-4 decision in the first set. After going up a break in the ninth game of the second set, Miyoshi closed out the frame from the service line, 6-4, to send the match into a third set. Holding serve in the sixth game after going down 30-40, Miyoshi broke in the next game to go up, 4-3. With all other matches already done, the sides ultimately went into a tiebreaker to decide the dual. Tied at 2-2, Miyoshi won the next four points and sealed the deal with a 7-6(3) third-set triumph.
Results: Illinois 4, Clemson 3
Doubles
No. 1: No. 36 Maxwell Smith/Noa Vukadin (Clemson) def. Mathis Debru/Kenta Miyoshi (Illinois), 6-4
No. 2: Max Damm/Viktor Markov (Clemson) def. Tyler Bowers/Zach Viiala (Illinois), 6-4
No. 3: William Mroz/Jeremy Zhang (Illinois) vs. Wissam Abderrahman/Romain Gales (Clemson), 3-4, unf.
Order of finish: 1, 2
Singles
No. 1: No. 13 Kenta Miyoshi (Illinois) def. No. 51 Noa Vukadin (Clemson), 5-7, 6-4, 7-6(3)
No. 2: No. 118 Wissam Abderrahman (Clemson) def. No. 42 William Mroz (Illinois), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
No. 3: Jeremy Zhang (Illinois) def. Viktor Markov (Clemson), 6-4, 6-4
No. 4: No. 79 Tyler Bowers (Illinois) def. Romain Gales (Clemson), 6-3, 7-6(8)
No. 5: Marko Mesarovic (Clemson) def. Zach Viiala (Illinois), 7-5, 6-2
No. 6: Mathis Debru (Illinois) def. Maxwell Smith (Clemson), 6-2, 2-6, 7-5
Order of finish: 3, 5, 4, 2, 6, 1
Illinois 4, Notre Dame 3
Notre Dame took a 1-0 advantage after doubles play via wins at No. 1 and No. 2.
The Illini evened the match with a straight-set victory from Debru at No. 6 singles. Taking the first frame, 6-3, Debru broke in the fourth game of the second set, which proved to be the difference in the match. His 6-3, 6-3 triumph, which came against Notre Dame's Luis Llorens Saracho, was his second of the day and tied the dual at 1-1.
Zach Viiala and Kenta Miyoshi won their matches nearly simultaneously to give the Orange and Blue a 3-1 advantage. Viiala broke twice within the first four games of his first set against Kyran Magimay at No. 5 singles before eventually securing a 6-2 decision. Breaks in the sixth and eighth games of the second frame proved to be the difference, as Viiala picked up his first win of the day, 6-2, 6-2.
Miyoshi was not far behind. With a 5-4 lead in the first set, Miyoshi broke for the third time and posted a 6-4 triumph at No. 1 singles. In a back-and-forth second set, Miyoshi once again broke serve on the final game of the frame, 7-5, en route to his straight-set victory over No. 33 Sebastian Dominko.
The Fighting Irish fought back with wins at No. 3 and 4 singles, tying the dual at 3-3 with Will Mroz's match on Court 2 the only one left in progress. Dropping the first set, 6-4, after getting broken for the first time in the 10th game, Mroz bounced back with a 6-2 decision in the second after breaking serve in the first and third games.
Going down a break twice in the third set, Mroz found an answer on both occasions, leveling the set at 4-4. Breaking serve in the ninth game to take a 5-4 lead, Will Mroz sealed his win with an ace to complete his comeback and clinch the Illini's 4-3 victory.
Results: Illinois 4, Notre Dame 3Â
Doubles
No. 1: Peter Nad/Chase Thompson (Notre Dame) def. Tyler Bowers/Zach Viiala (Illinois), 6-3
No. 2: Mathis Debru/William Mroz (Illinois) vs. Sebastian Dominko/Kyran Magimay (Notre Dame), 6-4
No. 3: Kenta Miyoshi/Jeremy Zhang (Illinois) vs. Luis Llorens Saracho/Yu Zhang (Notre Dame), 4-5, unf.
Order of finish: 2, 1
Singles
No. 1: No. 13 Kenta Miyoshi (Illinois) def. No. 33 Sebastian Dominko (Notre Dame), 6-4, 7-5
No. 2: No. 42 William Mroz (Illinois) def. Yu Zhang (Notre Dame), 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
No. 3: Chase Thompson (Notre Dame) def. Jeremy Zhang (Illinois), 6-3, 6-3
No. 4: Peter Nad (Notre Dame) def. No. 79 Tyler Bowers (Illinois), 6-4, 7-5
No. 5: Zach Viiala (Illinois) def. Kyran Magimay (Notre Dame), 6-2, 6-2
No. 6: Mathis Debru (Illinois) def. Luis Llorens Saracho (Notre Dame), 6-3, 6-3
Order of finish: 6, 5, 1, 3, 4, 2
Next Up
Illinois will return to Atkins Tennis Center next Saturday, Feb. 22, at 6 p.m. CT to host No. 20 Michigan for a nonconference match.
