CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Illinois secured 12 total wins during its time at Chowderfest hosted by Harvard in Cambridge, Mass., from Sept. 20-22. Tyler Bowers, Mathis Debru, Zach Viiala, and Jeremy Zhang represented the Fighting Illini at the three-day event, which saw all four Orange and Blue student-athletes pick multiple singles victories over the course of the weekend.
Viiala secured the first tournament triumph of his collegiate career, claiming the singles title.
Bowers was the lone Illini to win all three of his singles matches, while Debru, Viiala, and Zhang tallied two singles triumphs apiece during their time in Massachusetts.
“What a great weekend of tennis,” said head coach Brad Dancer. “Harvard was first class in hosting this event. It has been great to see the progression of Tyler Bowers, and he is beginning to understand some of his capabilities. Zach is showing good court awareness but needs to be more assertive. Jeremy really struggled with his fundamentals, but he was gritty this weekend. I think he made a breakthrough in his final set. Mathis showed good calmness under duress, but he, like Zach, can assert his will more. Doubles play needs to be a point of emphasis for our entire team.”
Day 1
Illinois began its weekend on the East Coast with four victories against opponents from Yale. The Illini and the Bulldogs split their matches in doubles play, with Debru and Zhang teaming up to defeat Yale’s Krish Gupta and Dylan Tsoi, 6-3. Bowers and Viiala fell in the other doubles match between the sides, dropping a 6-3 decision to Vignesh Gogineni and Jason Shuler.
Viiala avenged his doubles loss with the first ranked win of his collegiate career, taking down No. 50 Vignesh Gogineni in a three-set thriller. After Viiala secured a 6-0 first-set victory and Gogineni bounced back with a 6-1 triumph in the second set, the match went to a pivotal third frame. Both players fought hard throughout the back-and-forth battle, but Viiala prevailed to win the set, 14-12, and the match.
Bowers made quick work of Yale’s Jim Ji for his first win of the season. An efficient 6-1, 6-3 victory sent Bowers past the Bulldog sophomore.
Debru also picked up his first singles victory of the year, posting a 6-4, 7-6(5) triumph to earn both a singles and a doubles win on the day.
Zhang suffered a 6-3, 6-2 defeat to Yale’s Eric…
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