CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Two Illini competed in the final round of singles qualifying, while Illinois was well-represented in the doubles main draw in the Fighting Illini Open, a men’s tennis 25K Tournament on the International Tennis Federation World Tour, on Tuesday.
Alex Petrov advanced to the singles main draw with his second consecutive win in the qualifying round, joining three current Illini student-athletes in the main draw. Petrov secured a 6-1, 7-5 victory over Nikita Filin to advance to the first round against fellow qualifier Trey Hilderbrand.
Oliver Okonkwo came up just short in his singles match against Perry Gregg. After winning the first set, 6-3, and falling in the second frame, 6-2, Okonkwo could not seal the deal in the third, narrowly suffering a 10-7 defeat, which saw his singles run come to an end.
Hunter Heck, Kenta Miyoshi, and Karlis Ozolins will all begin their singles runs on Wednesday. Heck will open his campaign against the tournament’s top seed, Evgeny Donskoy, while Miyoshi is set to square off with eighth-seeded Murphy Cassone. Ozolins will also take on a ranked opponent, matching up with No. 3 Naoki Nakagawa.
Heck, Miyoshi, Ozolins, and Okonkwo also all took part in the start of doubles action alongside Illini teammates Tyler Bowers, Gabrielius Guzauskas, and Lucas Horve.
The Illini duo of Heck and Ozolins began their doubles run against top-seeded pair George Goldhoff and Tyler Zink. The Orange and Blue teammates took the first set, 7-6, before falling in the second frame, 6-3, to force a third-set tiebreaker. Battling throughout the back-and-forth affair, Heck and Ozolins pulled out the 10-7 third-set victory to secure the upset and advance to the doubles quarterfinals. The Illinois pair will take on Sebastian Gorzny and Chih Chi Huang in the next round.
Miyoshi and his partner, Aidan McHugh, pushed their match against Naoki Nakagawa and Makoto Ochi to three sets. After falling 6-2 in the opening frame, Miyoshi/McHugh forced a tiebreaker after winning the second set, 6-3, though they ultimately fell short, 10-2, to bring their doubles run to a close.
Bowers and Horve looked to bounce back after falling in singles on Monday, facing off with No. 3 Yuki Mochizuki and Takeru Yuzuki. The Illini duo could not secure the upset, falling in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2.
Guzauskas and Okonkwo…
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