Brad Dancer Head Coach | University of Illinois Division of Intercollegiate Athletics Website
Brad Dancer Head Coach | University of Illinois Division of Intercollegiate Athletics Website
The Illinois men's tennis team is set to participate in the 2026 ITA Kickoff Weekend, following their selection of the New York City site during the draft. The Fighting Illini, seeded fourth, will face top-seeded Columbia in their opening match scheduled for January 23-24. The regional competition also includes second-seeded Florida and third-seeded Kentucky.
The ITA Kickoff Weekend Draft allows teams to select their preferred playing locations based on factors such as travel, opponents, and facilities. With 14 host sites determined by the 2025 end-of-year rankings, remaining teams choose both a seed and location until all spots are filled.
The tournament features a field of 58 teams across 14 host sites. Teams compete for a place in the ITA National Team Indoor Championship, which will be held at Baylor and SMU campuses. Each team is guaranteed two matches during the weekend despite the single-elimination format.
Host sites for this year's event include Wake Forest, TCU, Texas, Stanford, Virginia, Ohio State, NC State, Columbia, San Diego, Mississippi State, Arizona, Cal, South Carolina, and UCLA. Wake Forest's Demon Deacons claimed victory in last year's event.
In the previous year's kickoff weekend in 2025, Illinois was narrowly defeated by No. 14 Tennessee with a score of 4-2 but managed to secure a win against Auburn with an identical scoreline in the consolation round.
Historically successful in this competition, Illinois has won the ITA National Team Indoor Championship twice consecutively in 2003 and 2004.
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