Chambana Sun

No. 20 Illinois faced a setback in their tennis match against Purdue at the Schwartz Tennis Center, with the Boilermakers claiming a narrow 4-3 victory. The Fighting Illini started strong by winning the doubles point and securing singles victories at No. 2 and No. 6 positions, but Purdue managed to win four consecutive matches to secure the win.

Head coach Brad Dancer acknowledged Purdue's performance: "Hats off to Purdue," he said. "No question they played with more courage tonight. They came after us in transition and deserved to win the match. Now, we need to recover, get refocused, and reset for Sunday."

In doubles play, Illinois took an early lead with Tyler Bowers and Kenta Miyoshi achieving their first win as a duo at No. 1 doubles against Aleksa Krivokapic and Maj Premzl of Purdue in a tiebreaker finish, while William Mroz and Zach Viiala secured a victory at No. 2 doubles.

Mathis Debru added another point for Illinois with a straight-set win over Mujtaba Ali-Khan at No. 6 singles. Meanwhile, Will Mroz continued his winning streak with a two-set triumph over Stefan Simeunovic at No. 2 singles.

Despite these successes, Purdue clinched victories in the final four matches on courts No. 1, 3, 4, and 5 to complete their comeback.

Illinois will conclude its road trip facing Indiana on Sunday afternoon at IU Tennis Center.