Chambana Sun

The Illinois men's tennis team, ranked No. 16, is set to compete in a doubleheader against UTRGV and No. 17 Baylor this Saturday in Waco, Texas. The matches will take place at the Hurd Tennis Center with Illinois facing UTRGV at 10 a.m. CT and then taking on Baylor at 6 p.m. CT.

Illinois enters the weekend with a four-match winning streak and holds a 5-2 record for the season. They recently secured their first ranked win of the spring by defeating No. 12 Michigan with a score of 5-2 on February 22.

Against Michigan, Illinois overcame initial setbacks by winning four singles matches after dropping the first set on five courts. The doubles point was claimed with victories from Mathis Debru and Max Mroz in No. 3 doubles and Kenta Miyoshi alongside William Mroz in No. 2 doubles.

In singles play, Kenta Miyoshi achieved a significant win against Benjamin Kittay, marking his third ranked victory of the dual season. Zach Viiala also contributed to the team's success with his performance at No. 6 singles, while Debru clinched the match on Court 5.

UTRGV currently has a record of 2-8 this spring, having last won against Prairie View A&M on February 9 but are now on a two-match losing streak after falling to SMU.

Baylor stands at an overall record of 8-6 for the season and has faced top-tier teams as part of their schedule, including hosting ITA National Team Indoor Championships matches against top-10 opponents.

The Bears have notable players such as Devin Badenhorst and Oskar Brostrom Poulsen who are featured in singles rankings along with several ranked doubles pairs including Marko Miladinovic/Brostrom Poulsen duo listed as No.12.

This weekend's meeting between Illinois and UTRGV marks their first-ever encounter while Baylor leads their historical series narrowly over Illinois by one match since they began competing in1988.