EVANSTON, Ill. – No. 23-ranked Fighting Illini men’s tennis (15-9) fell to Northwestern (15-7), 4-3, in a back-and-forth battle at the Vandy Christie Tennis Center in Evanston, Ill. Saturday afternoon.
“Big credit to Northwestern,” head coach Brad Dancer said/ “They have a good team. Our fans came out and gave us a great atmosphere. We didn’t do a good job of keeping the pressure on the guys in spots where we had leads. The bottom line is that we have to be better — significantly better.”
The Illini started off the match losing the doubles point, with Steven Forman and Simen Bratholm defeating No. 41-ranked duo Hunter Heck and Karlis Ozolins, 6-2.
No. 54-ranked pairing Oliver Okonkwo and Mathis Debru came up with a 6-2 win over No. 74 Ivan Yatsuk and Gleb Blekher.
Trice Pickens and Natan Spear, however, clinched the doubles point for the Wildcats, defeating Alex Petrov and Kenta Miyoshi, 6-3.
Okonkwo made quick work of Presley Thieneman to start off singles play, defeating the Wildcat, 6-3, 6-2. Heck was right behind him, defeating Forman 6-3, 6-3.
Ozolins and William Mroz both lost their matches in succession – Ozolins 7-5, 6-3 to Yatsuk and Mroz, 7-5, 6-4 to Pickens.
Petrov then had an impressive come-from-behind win over Bratholm, 6-1, 2-6, 7-5. After forcing a third set, Nic Meister dropped his match to Blekher, 7-6 (1), 6-7 (1), 6-1, for Northwestern to clinch the match.
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