Chambana Sun

No. 24 Illinois ended their road trip in Ann Arbor with a 4-0 defeat against No. 23 Michigan in a Big Ten men's tennis match at the Varsity Tennis Center on Friday night. This result adjusts Illinois' record to 12-7 overall and 5-3 in the conference, while Michigan stands at 13-8 and 7-3 respectively. Both teams had previously clashed in a nonconference match in February, where Illinois emerged victorious.

Michigan began the match dominantly, securing the doubles point with wins at No. 2 and 3 doubles, thus taking a 1-0 lead. Illinois' duo Tyler Bowers and Kenta Miyoshi led 5-4 in their No. 1 doubles match before it went unfinished.

In singles, Michigan clinched their victory with wins at No. 1, 5, and 6 positions. Notably, the match between Illinois' William Mroz and Michigan's Will Cooksey at No. 2 singles was halted unfinished after Mroz overcame a close first set loss, 7-6(6), to win the second set 6-3, forcing a third set.

Jeremy Zhang, competing against Michigan's Benjamin Kittay at No. 3 singles, won his first set but dropped the second before their match also went unfinished. Tyler Bowers, making a return to Big Ten singles after two weeks, won his first set at No. 4 singles but subsequently lost the second, leaving their final set incomplete with scores standing level.

In other results, Gavin Young of Michigan defeated Kenta Miyoshi, 6-4, 7-6(2) at No. 1 singles. Patorn Hanchaikul and Nicholas Steiglehner won at No. 5 and No. 6 singles respectively for Michigan.

Illinois will wrap up their road series with a match against Michigan State on Sunday at 11 a.m. CT.