Chambana Sun

Illinois to compete at Harvard Chowderfest, ITA All-American Championships

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Illinois men's tennis' 2024 fall slate continues this weekend with two more events across two different states. The Fighting Illini are set to take part in the Harvard Chowderfest from Sept. 20-22 in Cambridge, Mass., and the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla., from Sept. 21-29.

Four student-athletes will compete at the Harvard Chowderfest. Zach Viiala will play in his second event of the fall, while a trio of Illini – Tyler Bowers, Mathis Debru, and Jeremy Zhang – will all make their first appearances of the season.

Viiala enters the weekend after picking up three singles wins at the Louisville Invitational on Sept. 13-15 in his first competition at the collegiate level after joining the program in January. Despite falling in his first singles match of the weekend, Viiala responded with three consecutive victories to win the singles consolation bracket.

Bowers recorded 18 wins in singles play last season, including a 3-1 mark in his first spring collegiate campaign. Debru accumulated 10 singles and 21 doubles victories during his junior season in 2024, and he closed the year on a nine-match winning streak in doubles action. Zhang totaled 17 singles triumphs as a freshman, going undefeated in the Illini's final six matches of the 2024 season.

Gabrielius Guzauskas and William Mroz will take part in prequalifying action at the ITA All-American Championships, a competition that serves as a qualifier for the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships in November. Guzauskas and Mroz begin their respective tournament runs on Saturday in Tulsa.

Guzauskas will make his second appearance of the fall after playing at the Louisville Invitational last weekend. Guzauskas won his first three singles matches and progressed all the way to the singles final, while he and Viiala won one doubles match as a tandem. Mroz will play in his first collegiate tournament of the fall after compiling 19 singles victories last season.

Kenta Miyoshi is set to join the group in Tulsa and will participate in the main draw at the ITA All-American Championships, which will begin on Wednesday.

The ITA All-American Championships are one of four qualifiers for the NCAA Championships, which will be held from Nov. 19-24 in Waco, Texas. ITA All-Americans will give ten singles players and four doubles pairings an automatic berth to the NCAA Championships after competition was moved from spring to fall.

All eight quarterfinalists in the singles main draw and two feed-in consolation finalists will qualify for the NCAA Singles Championship, while four main-draw semifinalists in doubles play will earn a bid to NCAA Doubles Championship.