CHICAGO, Ill. – The Illinois men’s tennis team defeated No. 13 Georgia, 4-2, at the XS Tennis Village in Chicago, Ill.
“The theme of the day was focus,” head coach Brad Dancer said. “It was a great way to start off Chicago.”
Mathis Debru and Oliver Okonkwo were the first doubles pair to finish, losing to No. 24 pair Trent Boyle and Ethan Quinn, 6-2.
Karlis Ozolins and Hunter Heck turned it around, defeating Teodor Guisca and Philip Henning, 6-2.
Already in a close match, Lucas Horve and Gabrielius Guzauskas fought for not only the win, but the team doubles point. The duo ended up beating Blake Croyder and Britton Johnston on a tie break of 7-6 (5) to put the Illini in the lead.
“Lucas and Gabe played very steady and their heads were really clear in what they were doing,” Dancer said. “Tennis was a game of focus and I thought they did a great job of focusing to get us that doubles point.”
Georgia was out for blood going into singles play with No. 8 Henning quickly defeating Heck, 6-3, 6-0. Okonkwo was the next to finish with a loss to Croyder, 6-2, 7-5.
The Illini went on to win three singles matches in-a-row, starting with Ozolins beating No. 5 Ethan Quinn, 6-4, 6-3. Miyoshi was close behind him, grabbing a 6-2, 6-4 win over Guisca.
“I’m really happy for Karlis and Kenta, who were just really focused and dialed into their matches,” Dancer said.
Mroz had a back-and-forth battle with Trent Bryde, and ultimately came out victorious with a 7-6 (7), 7-6 (2) win, clinching the match for the Illini.
“I think Will Mroz was the hero of the day, just in terms of his composer,” Dancer said. “I think he blinked a little bit, we talked about that on the court – that everybody blinks at times, and he blinked serving for the match but he got right back on the horse and stayed steady, and that was awesome for him. He got back to playing Will Mroz Tennis.”
Nic Meister was fighting hard with Miguel Perez Pena, whose match went unfinished at 6-3, 3-6, 0-2.
“Despite not having our best stuff in some areas, Nic Meister set a great tone against a great player at six singles,” Dancer said. “They were just in a super battle down there, which was super fun to watch.”
The Illini will be back in action on Friday to kickoff the ITA National Indoor Tournament against No. 1 Ohio State at 6 p.m. at XS Tennis Facility…
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