CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Five current Illini and one Illinois alum competed in the first round of qualifying at the Fighting Illini Open, a men’s tennis 25K Tournament on the International Tennis Federation World Tour, on Monday. The opening day of the fourth-annual competition took place at Atkins Tennis Center and will continue through the remainder of the week.
Current players Tyler Bowers, Gabrielius Guzauskas, Lucas Horve, Oliver Okonkwo, and Alex Petrov and Illini men’s tennis alum Alex Brown all began their tournament runs in the first qualifying round.
Okonkwo took care of business as the 15-seed in the tournament, defeating Mateo Delossantos in straight sets. After clinching a 6-1 victory in the opening frame, Okonkwo finished the job with a 6-2 second-set win.
Petrov cruised to victory in his contest against Noah Hernandez. After securing a 6-2 decision to take a one-set lead, Petrov closed his match in dominant fashion with a 6-0 second-set victory to advance to the second round of qualifying on Tuesday.
Horve battled from start to finish but dropped his opening-round contest to Kareem Al Allaf in back-to-back frames, 6-0, 6-3.
No. 13-seed Guzauskas battled in his qualifying match, though he ultimately fell, 6-3, 6-4, to Andrew Fenty in two sets, .
Bowers could not pull of the upset in his match, losing to eighth-seeded Pierce Brazil Rollins,6-4, 6-3, in straight sets.
Brown fell in his match in his return to Champaign, losing to No. 6-seed Nicholas Godsick, 6-4, 6-0.
Petrov will take on Nikita Filin in the second and final round of qualifying, while Okonkwo will square off with Perry Gregg. Okonkwo will play the first match of the day on court one, which is set to begin at 10 a.m. CT, while Petrov’s contest set to begin immediately after.
RESULTS
-
(WC) Kareem Al Allaf def. (WC) Lucas Horve, 6-0, 6-3
-
(WC) Andrew Fenty def. [13] Gabrielius Guzauskas, 6-3, 6-4
-
[15] Oliver Okonkwo def. Mateo Delossantos, 6-1, 6-2
-
[6] Nicholas Godsick def. Alex Brown, 6-4, 6-0
-
[8] Pierce Brazil Rollins def. Tyler Bowers, 6-4, 6-3
-
[2] Alex Petrov def. Noah Hernandez, 6-2, 6-0
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at University of Illinois Athletics…