OJAI, Calif. – No. 3-seeded Illinois cruised to a dominant 4-0 win over No. 6-seeded Wisconsin in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday night.
The Fighting Illini claimed the doubles point before tallying straight-set singles wins on Courts 1, 3, and 6 to advance to Friday's semifinals.
"First off, huge shoutout to Ojai and the community here. The fans today were awesome and created a great atmosphere. They have been extraordinary hosts this week," said head coach Brad Dancer. "Second, hats off to Wisconsin. They will be great representatives of our conference come NCAA Tournament time. Lastly, our guys were super focused tonight and were committed to and executed our game plan. On to the next tomorrow."
The Illini set the tone immediately with early breaks on all three courts in doubles play. William Mroz and Tyler Bowers were ultimately first to finish, posting breaks in the third and fifth games en route to a 6-2 decision against Patrik Meszaros and Matthew Fullerton. Gabriel Debru and Kenta Miyoshi secured the doubles point for the Illini shortly after with a 6-3 victory over Ferdinand Kloesters and Michael Minasyan on Court 1.
Illinois carried that momentum to the singles courts, winning five opening sets. Hayden Jones was the first Illini to finish with an emphatic 6-2, 6-1 effort over Sachiv Kumar on Court 6.
Debru was next to post a straight-set triumph via his 6-1, 6-3 decision on the top singles court to put the Orange and Blue within a point of victory.
Mroz clinched Illinois' win on Court 3, defeating Ferdinand Kloesters by a 6-3, 6-3 margin to book the Illini's spot in the semifinals.
RESULTS
Doubles
No. 1: Gabriel Debru/Kenta Miyoshi (Illinois) def. Ferdinand Kloesters/Michael Minasyan (Wisconsin), 6-3
No. 2: #80 Zach Viiala/David Bakonyi (Illinois) vs. Oliver Olsson/Tomas Zlatohlavek (Wisconsin), 5-4, unfinished
No. 3: William Mroz/Tyler Bowers (Illinois) def. Patrik Meszaros/Matthew Fullerton (Wisconsin), 6-2
Order of finish: 3, 1
Singles
No. 1: #28 Gabriel Debru (Illinois) def. Patrik Meszaros (Wisconsin), 6-1, 6-3
No. 2: #16 Kenta Miyoshi (Illinois) vs. #63 Michael Minasyan (Wisconsin), 6-4, 5-1, unfinished
No. 3: #100 William Mroz (Illinois) def. Ferdinand Kloesters (Wisconsin), 6-3, 6-3
No. 4: Adam Jilly (Illinois) vs. Edouard Aubert (Wisconsin), 6-4, 4-0, unfinished
No. 5: Zach Viiala (Illinois) vs. Tomas Zlatohlavek (Wisconsin), 6-6, unfinished
No. 6: Hayden Jones (Illinois) def. Sachiv Kumar (Wisconsin), 6-2, 6-1
Order of finish: 6, 1, 3
UP NEXT
No. 3-seeded Illinois (22-6) advances to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals to face No. 2-seeded and No. 3-ranked Ohio State on Friday at 5 p.m. CT.
