NEW YORK – No. 25 Illinois fell to No. 13 Columbia, 4-3, on the road in its opening-round match at ITA Kickoff Weekend on Friday in New York.
The Fighting Illini posted singles wins on Courts 2, 4, and 5, but it was not enough as the host Lions took the doubles point before getting singles victories at No. 1, 3, and 6.
The Lions secured the doubles point behind wins at No. 2 and 3. After Illinois dropped the first doubles match of the day, Adam Jilly and Kenta Miyoshi evened things up with a 7-6(5) victory on the top doubles court. Trailing 3-0 in the tiebreaker, the Illini tallied seven of the final nine points to claim their second straight victory as a partnership.
Columbia ultimately came up with the final doubles triumph of the day to take a 1-0 lead into singles play.
After the sides split the opening sets in singles, Sasha Colleu got the Orange and Blue on the board with his straight-set triumph over Columbia's Jung Hee You at No. 5 singles. Taking the opening frame by a 6-2 scoreline, Colleu sealed his second dual singles win of the season by a 6-4 margin in the second set.
William Mroz's win against Abhishek Thorat on Court 4 gave the Illini a 2-1 advantage in the dual. A break in the eighth game proved the difference for Mroz in the opening frame before breaking twice in the second set en route to his first dual singles victory of the campaign.
The Lions tied the dual with a triumph at No. 1, but the Illini went back in front following Gabriel Debru's three-set, come-from-behind win over No. 65-ranked Sachin Palta on 2. After Debru dropped the first frame, both players struggled to hold serve before the French freshman ultimately won the frame, 6-3. Cruising the rest of the way, Debru posted a bagel in the decisive third set en route to the first dual singles victory of his career.
Columbia leveled the contest at 3-3 with a three-set win at No. 3 singles, bringing the dual down to the outcome on Court 6. The Lions sealed their home victory with a three-set win in the final singles match of the evening.
RESULTS
Doubles
No. 1: Adam Jilly/Kenta Miyoshi (Illinois) def. Nicolas Kotzen/Andrew Ena (Columbia), 7-6(5)
No. 2: Sachin Palta/Jordan Chang (Columbia) def. Gabriel Debru/Sasha Colleu (Illinois), 7-6(7)
No. 3: No. 37 Thanaphat Boosarawonge/Aditya Govila (Columbia) def. William Mroz/Zach Viiala (Illinois), 6-2
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2
Singles
No. 1: No. 52 Nicolas Kotzen (Columbia) def. No. 10 Kenta Miyoshi (Illinois), 7-6(5), 6-4
No. 2: Gabriel Debru (Illinois) def. No. 65 Sachin Palta (Columbia), 3-6, 6-3, 6-0
No. 3: Thanaphat Boosarawongse (Columbia) def. No. 87 Adam Jilly (Illinois), 6-7(0), 6-1, 6-3
No. 4: William Mroz (Illinois) def. Abhishek Thorat (Columbia), 6-3, 6-2
No. 5: Sasha Colleu (Illinois) def. Jung Hee You (Columbia), 6-2, 6-4
No. 6: Aditya Govila (Columbia) def. Hayden Jones (Illinois), 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-2
Order of finish: 5, 4, 1, 2, 3, 6
UP NEXT
No. 25 Illinois closes its time at ITA Kickoff Weekend with its third consecutive ranked matchup, facing No. 23 Kentucky on Saturday at 10 a.m. CT.
