University of Illinois Graduate

*at Iowa

Rankings History

Career-High Doubles Ranking at Illinois: 27 (April 2, 2024 with Lucas Horve)

2023-24: Graduate Student

• Big Ten Distinguished Scholar
• Academic All-Big Ten
• ITA Scholar Athlete
• Tallied a 14-11 singles record and a 20-6 mark in doubles action
• Ended the season with a 20-6 record in doubles with Horve
• Finished the year ranked No. 46 in the ITA doubles rankings with Oliver Okonkwo
• Earned a career-high doubles ranking of No. 27 with Lucas Horve on April 2
• Defeated No. 15 Jay Friend/Colton Smith in Illinois' win over No. 7 Arizona on March 10
• Clinched the Illini's 4-2 win over No. 17 North Carolina on Feb. 3
• Played in 18 matches in the spring
• Competed in doubles with Lucas Horve, earning a record of 9-3 in the fall

2022-23: Graduate Student

• Academic All-Big Ten
• Big Ten Distinguished Scholar 
• Competed in four tournaments in the fall
• Played in 29 matches in the spring
• Went 5-1 in Big Ten dual play
• Plays doubles with Mathis Debru
• Reached career-high ITA doubles ranking 52 with doubles partner Debru
• He and Debru tallied a 7-3 record in the No. 2 doubles spot

2021-2022: Senior

Did not play due to injury

2020-21: Junior (at Iowa)

• Qualified for the 2021 NCAA Championships Doubles Tournament with partner Will Davies
• Became the seventh doubles team at Iowa, and first in 32 seasons, to compete at the NCAA Championships 
• Okonkwo/Davies ascended as high as No. 2 in the national rankings, marking the highest ranking ever for an Iowa doubles team, and finished the season ranked No. 29
• Registered 12 doubles victories, including 10 with Davies
• Went 4-1 against ranked doubles opponents including bouncing the No. 14 (Illinois) and No. 7 (Northwestern) ranked teams in consecutive matches
• Won first eight doubles decisions of the season
• Won seven singles matches, playing a majority of time at No. 2 and No. 3
• Beat #112 Kyle Seelig of Ohio State in three sets and #120 Alex Brown of Illinois in three sets
• Letterwinner
• Ranks second in program history in doubles winning percentage in spring matches only (.714, 30-12)
• Won 24 doubles matches in the fall and spring as a freshman, which ties for second most all-time in program history
• Collected 18 points on the ITF World Tennis Tour in Summer of 2019
• Doubles Quarterfinalist at the ITF World Tennis Tour 25k event in Iowa City with Davies

2019-20: Sophomore (at Iowa)

• Partnered with Will Davies to become first Hawkeye doubles team in 20 years to qualify for the ITA Fall National Championships
•  Okonkwo/Davies posted a 6-2 record to qualify for the national tournament
• Registered the best win in school history over the No. 6 team from Columbia (7-5, 6-2)
• Won four consecutive ITA Central Regionals doubles matches to become first Hawkeye duo in more than three decades to finish as doubles finalists at the ITA Central Regional Championships
• Okonkwo/Tyler won three straight doubles matches to finish runners-up at the Big Ten Indoor Championships
• Won eight singles matches, four each at No. 2 and No. 3
• Recorded one victory over a ranked opponent in his last match versus No. 122 Eero Vasa from Cornell
• Ranked as high as No. 10 nationally, a program best, in doubles with partner Will Davies
• Won six doubles matches at No. 1, including two against ranked opponents, before the season was canceled by the Big Ten Conference and NCAA on March 12, due to concerns of coronavirus (COVID-19)
• Spring Semester Dean’s List honoree
• Letterwinner

2018-19: Freshman (at Iowa)

• Won nine singles matches and eight doubles matches
• Won five doubles matches with partner Will Davies, advancing to the finals of the Big Ten Doubles Championships
•  Won 27 singles matches in the spring, which ranks fourth all-time in school history, and the most ever by an Iowa freshman
• Recorded 18 singles wins in the spring, which rank 11th most in program history
• Mostly saw action on courts two, three, and four
• Posted a 9-1 record playing at No. 3
• Registered first win over ranked opponent, bouncing No. 54 Mattias Siimar of Michigan in straight sets
• Won seven of his last nine singles decisions
• Won 16 doubles matches with partner Will Davies, including a 10-2 record at No. 2 and a 6-3 mark on court one
• Won three doubles matches over ranked opponents, including a program-best win over No. 8 Nemeth/De La Basse of Penn State
• Davies/Okonkwo were ranked as high as No. 58 nationally
• Dean’s List honoree
• Letterwinner

High School/Club

• Earned top-20 in UK U16 rankings
• Played singles and doubles and won the Aegon Winter County Cup in 2016
• Runner-up at 2016 and 2017 British National Championship in doubles
• Champion of the Grade 4 International Tennis Federation
• Earned top-25 in UK U18 rankings
• Eighth ranked junior in LTA U18 National Rankings

Personal

• Born April 8, 2000
• Cyril and Sharon Okonkwo
• Has two brothers, Alexander and James
• Chose Illinois because, “I wanted to be a part of a program where I was amongst others with the same goal as me which is to be the best player I can be so that I can play professional tennis. I trust the coaches and the team to put me in the best position to push me towards my goal."