Clark Advances in Singles Play

URBANA, Ill. – Illinois alumni Zeke Clark advanced to the second round of singles main play on the third day of action in the Fighting Illini Open, a men’s tennis 25K tournament on the ITF World Tour, at Atkins Tennis Center on Wednesday.

Four-seed Clark took on Illini sophomore Alex Petrov in the first round, winning four straight games to close out the first set before a back-and-forth second frame to move on to the Round of 16.

Alumni Alex Brown, junior Hunter Heck and sophomore Karlis Ozolins all saw their singles campaigns come to a close with first-round losses. Heck and Brown both lost in two sets, while Ozolins narrowly fell in three. The Latvia native won the second set before coming up short in the third frame, 7-6(2).

Clark will take on Eduardo Nava in the second round of singles competition tomorrow. Heck and Clark will resume doubles play against Eduardo Nava and Nathan Ponwith.

“It’ll be great to see how the guys respond tomorrow,” Assistant coach Tim Kopinski said. “They have one match under their belt already and I’m looking forward to seeing them go after another.”