CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – With only one match on the schedule for the weekend, the Notre Dame men’s tennis team drove west to Illinois to take on the Illini on Friday night in Champaign. After starting an hour late due to earlier matches running long, the two teams would take the court at 8pm ET and battle late into the night until the home team squeaked out the 4-3 win over Notre Dame.
The Irish saw a new pairing at #3 doubles and a shakeup to the order overall, a move that proved favorable as Notre Dame would take the doubles point with wins at the top two positions. Sebastian Dominko and Kyran Magimay played on court 2 and would break serve in the opening game of the match. That break was all they needed as they held serve every time and took the set 6-4. Chase Thompson and Peter Nad moved up to the top spot and followed their teammates less than 60 seconds later with a win of their own 6-3 to claim the early lead.
Illinois would strike first in singles and go up 3-1 overall with straight set wins at #6, #5 and #1 in that order. But the team from South Bend took the first sets at the other three positions. Chase Thompson could not be broken on serve as he held every time, including six service games at deuce, and would get one break per set to win 6-3 6-3 at #3 singles.
Peter Nad, at #4, took on the #79 ranked player in the country and would win the first set 6-4. He broke early in the second and led the entire way, serving for the match at 5-4. However, his opponent in blue and orange pushed back to even the set at 5-all. The freshman from Slovakia would have a response of his own and immediately break back, giving him a chance to serve out the match once again. This time, he would successfully do so, ending with a serve and volley winner to take the match and hand his opponent his first lost of the spring season.
With the score tied at three a piece, all eyes turned to Yu Zhang on court 32 who was in a third set battle against the #42 ranked player in the country. Zhang won the first set 6-4 before dropping the second 6-2. After snagging the early lead in the final act, the two players traded games, breaking each other back to back to back before Illinois would hold. Unfortunately, momentum continued for the home team and Zhang would succumb 6-4 in the third after a valiant effort. The loss is just the second on the season for Notre Dame who move to 8-2 overall.
Up Next:
The men will have one final weekend of non-conference play where they will take on two more teams out of the Big Ten. On Friday the 21st, the Badgers of Wisconsin will come to South Bend in a match that will begin at 4pm in the Eck Tennis Pavilion. Then on Sunday the 23rd, the Irish are back on the road to take on Northwestern at the Combes Tennis Center at 12pm.
Box Score
Notre Dame 3 Illinois 4
Doubles
Nad/Thompson(ND) def. Bowers/Vialla(ILL) 6-3
Dominko/Magimay(ND) def. Debru/W. Mroz(ILL) 6-4
Llorens/Zhang(ND) vs. Miyoshi/Zhang(ILL) 5-4 DNF
Order of Finish(2, 1)
Singles
#13 Miyoshi(ILL) def. #33 Dominko(ND) 6-4, 7-5
#42 W. Mroz(ILL) def. Zhang(ND) 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
Thompson(ND) def. Zhang(ILL) 6-3, 6-3
Nad(ND) def. #79 Bowers(ILL) 6-4, 7-5
Vialla(ILL) def. Magimay(ND) 6-2, 6-2
Debru(ILL) def. Llorens(ND) 6-3, 6-3
Order of Finish (6, 5, 1, 3, 4, 2)