ROSEMONT, Ill. – Fighting Illini freshmen Gabriel Debru and Adam Jilly were recognized by the conference office on Wednesday with Big Ten weekly awards following their standout performances during Illinois' wins over No. 6 TCU and No. 8 Baylor last week.
Debru was named Big Ten Player of the Week for the first time in his career, while Jilly was tabbed with Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors for the second time.
Debru went 4-0 across singles and doubles play during Illinois' two top-10 wins. Recording three total ranked victories over the course of the weekend, including two over top-15 singles players, Debru now sits at No. 26 in the ITA singles rankings.
The Frenchman began the weekend with a straight-set singles victory over Baylor's No. 13 Devin Badenhorst, 6-4, 6-0, on the top singles court. He followed it up one day later with a straight-set win over No. 9 Duncan Chan (TCU), 6-3, 6-4.
On the doubles courts, Debru posted a ranked doubles victory over TCU's No. 56 Cooper Woestendick/Oliver Bonding on the top doubles court on Saturday. He also tallied a 6-3 win over Baylor's Alexandru Chirita/Zsombor Velcz on Friday.
Jilly also put together a perfect weekend with two singles triumphs of his own. He notched the fourth ranked decision of his collegiate career during that stretch while climbing to No. 111 in the ITA singles rankings.
The Hungary native started the weekend with a dominant ranked win over No. 73 Alexandru Chirita (Baylor), 6-2, 6-1, on Court 4. About 24 hours later, Jilly clinched the Illini's win over No. 6 TCU with a victory against Oliver Bonding, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2.
The Illini have now claimed the Big Ten Player of the Week award in consecutive weeks after William Mroz received that recognition on Feb. 25. This marks the third Big Ten Freshman of the Week distinction for an Illini this season, with Jilly winning twice and Sasha Colleu securing the status on Jan. 21.
Illinois, now on a five-match winning streak, will take on Northern Illinois on Friday at 12:30 p.m. CT before beginning Big Ten play against Oregon and Washington. The Illini will face the Ducks on Friday at 6 p.m. CT before battling the Huskies on Sunday at 12 p.m. CT.
