Chambana Sun

The University of Illinois men's tennis team defeated Oregon with a 4-1 victory in the opening round of the Big Ten Men's Tennis Tournament, held at the Auer Tennis Complex in Columbus, Ohio. This win secures Illinois a place in the quarterfinals and improves their overall season record to 15-10, with an unbeaten neutral-site record this spring.

Illinois gained an early advantage by winning the doubles point. Tyler Bowers and Mathis Debru secured the first doubles win over Lenn Luemkemann and Matthew Burton from Oregon by a score of 6-3. This win gave Bowers and Debru a 2-0 record as partners. The decisive doubles match was secured by Illinois' Zach Viiala and Jeremy Zhang, who emerged victorious with a 7-5 win over Oregon's Vlad Breazu and Clement Lemire, clinching the doubles point for Illinois.

In singles competition, Mathis Debru gave Illinois a 2-0 lead with a straight-set victory over Matthew Burton, maintaining a four-match winning streak. Max Mroz extended Illinois' lead by defeating Lachlan Robertson in a three-set match. Though the Ducks managed a victory at No. 2 singles, Illinois' Kenta Miyoshi secured the team's overall win with a straight-set victory over Lenn Luemkemann, marking his 19th ranked win of the year.

The next challenge for Illinois is a quarterfinal match against Ohio State, the tournament host and top-seeded team. The match will take place on Friday morning.