URBANA, Ill. – No. 20 Illinois opened its Big Ten schedule with a 4-1 home win over Nebraska on Friday night.
Improving to 4-0 at Atkins Tennis Center this season, the Fighting Illini secured the doubles point along with singles triumphs at No. 2, 5, and 6 en route to victory.
"1-0 in the Big Ten. That's honestly all we care about," said head coach Brad Dancer. "We obviously put some new doubles pairings out there tonight. Some of the things out of that were really good, but we have to serve better and be more trusting with our returns in doubles. In singles, this was a night about finding solutions. We have been battling illnesses this week and maybe are not 100% physically, so it was about finding solutions.
"Despite the circumstances and everything else, we had a bunch of guys who did a really good job of figuring their way out through their matches. Can we play better? No question, but I'm really pleased with how we're finding ways to get through matches. That's a great start for us, we're 1-0 in the Big Ten, and we're looking forward to the challenge Wisconsin presents on Sunday."
The Illini took the doubles point behind wins at No. 2 and 3. William Mroz and Zach Viiala, playing together for the first time, earned a 6-4 win on Court 2 over Nebraska's Leo Linquet/Joan Torres Espinosa. After going ahead by a break in the second game, Mroz and Viiala were broken in the ninth game. Unfazed, the Illini duo responded with a break of their own in the 10th game to take their match, 6-4.
At No. 3 doubles, Mathis Debru and Jeremy Zhang battled with the Cornhusker duo of Anton Shepp/Henry Bilicic. With neither tandem able to break the other's serve, the sides entered into a tiebreaker. Tied at 5-5, Debru/Zhang claimed the next two points to win their match, 7-6(5), and secure the doubles point for the Orange and Blue.
Mroz extended the Illini's lead with a straight-set victory at No. 2 singles against Nebraska's Anton Shepp. Breaking for the first time in the ninth game, Mroz claimed a 6-4 triumph in the opening frame. With a one-set lead, Mroz broke in the first and third games of the second set en route to a 6-4, 6-1 decision.
At No. 6 singles, Viiala broke twice within the opening four games, eventually posting a 6-3 victory in the first set. With the second frame even at 4-4, Viiala broke again in the ninth game before serving out the match for a 6-3, 6-4 win to give the Orange and Blue a 3-0 edge.
A Cornhusker victory on Court 4 cut into the visitors' deficit, but Illinois clinched shortly after with Debru's win at No. 5. Fighting past Leo Linquet in the opening-set tiebreaker, 7-6(3), Debru broke in the eighth game of the second set before tallying a 6-3 decision in the frame to clinch the victory
Results: No. 20 Illinois 4, Nebraska 1
Doubles
No. 1: Kenta Miyoshi/Tyler Bowers (Illinois) vs. Calvin Mueller/Nikolay Sysoev (Nebraska), 6-6, unfinished
No. 2: William Mroz/Zach Viiala (Illinois) def. Leo Linquet/Joan Torres Espinosa (Nebraska), 6-4
No. 3: Mathis Debru/Jeremy Zhang (Illinois) def. Anton Shepp/Henry Bilicic (Nebraska), 7-6(5)
Order of finish: 2, 3
Singles
No. 1: No. 12 Kenta Miyoshi (Illinois) vs. No. 81 Calvin Mueller (Nebraska), 6-3, 4-5, unfinished
No. 2: No. 48 William Mroz (Illinois) def. Anton Shepp (Nebraska), 6-4, 6-1
No. 3: Tyler Bowers (Illinois) vs. Nikolay Sysoev (Nebraska), 3-6, 6-2, 1-1, unfinished
No. 4: Roni Hietaranta (Nebraska) def. Jeremy Zhang (Illinois), 6-3, 6-1
No. 5: Mathis Debru (Illinois) def. Leo Linquet (Nebraska), 7-6(3), 6-3
No. 6: Zach Viiala (Illinois) def. Colson Wells (Nebraska), 6-3, 6-4
Order of finish: 2, 6, 4, 5
Next Up
No. 20 Illinois closes its two-match homestand at Atkins Tennis Center on Sunday at 12 p.m. CT against Wisconsin.
