Chambana Sun

The University of Illinois men's tennis team, ranked No. 20, is set to compete in its first Big Ten road matches of the season against Purdue and Indiana. The Illini, with a 2-0 record in conference play, will face Purdue on Friday at 4 p.m. CT and Indiana on Sunday at 1 p.m. CT.

Illinois enters the weekend with an overall record of 8-4 and a 1-4 mark away from home. All four losses have been against teams ranked in the top 20 of the ITA rankings. The team aims to end a two-match losing streak on the road, having last won away from home on February 1 against North Carolina.

Recently, Illinois secured a decisive 7-0 victory over Wisconsin at Atkins Tennis Center on March 9, improving their home record to 5-0 this season. The team won all six singles matches in straight sets after clinching the doubles point with victories by Mathis Debru/Jeremy Zhang and William Mroz/Zach Viiala.

Purdue comes into Friday's match with an 8-3 record but has yet to win in Big Ten play this season. They are undefeated at home with an 8-0 record at Schwartz Tennis Center but do not have any players ranked individually by ITA.

Indiana started their season strong with nine consecutive wins but has since lost four straight matches, bringing their record to 9-4 overall and winless in conference play. The Hoosiers hold an impressive home record of 8-1 and will host Northwestern before facing Illinois.

Historically, Illinois has dominated Purdue with a series lead of 108-11-1 since their first meeting in 1905. Against Indiana, Illinois leads the series 55-46 and has won each of the last thirteen encounters.

In administrative news, Brad Dancer, head coach for Illinois men's tennis, received a contract extension through the 2030-31 season as announced by Director of Athletics Josh Whitman. "Brad Dancer is a trusted veteran leader...we are thrilled to extend our partnership," Whitman stated.

Dancer has led Illinois to significant achievements including NCAA Tournament berths and Big Ten titles during his tenure starting June 28, 2005. His coaching career includes mentoring numerous All-Americans and All-Big Ten honorees.

Earlier this season, Illinois achieved its first ranked win by defeating No.12 Michigan with a score of 5-2 at Atkins Tennis Center on February 22.

Kenta Miyoshi earned ITA Singles All-America status following his performance at the NCAA Singles Championship held for the first time in fall instead of spring.

In current ITA rankings: Team - No.20 Illinois; Singles - No.12 Kenta Miyoshi (Illinois), No.48 William Mroz (Illinois); Doubles - No.9 Facundo Yunis/Jip van Assendelft (Indiana).