Chambana Sun

Seven student-athletes from the University of Illinois men's tennis team have been recognized in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's (ITA) preseason rankings for the 2025-26 season. The ITA released its first set of rankings on Tuesday, with Illinois athletes earning spots in singles, doubles, and newcomer categories.

Freshman Gabriel Debru was listed in all three polls. He is ranked as the top newcomer nationally, No. 2 in doubles alongside senior Kenta Miyoshi, and No. 72 in singles. Debru comes to Illinois from Grenoble, France, with five professional singles titles and three professional doubles titles. His career-high ATP rankings are No. 233 in singles and No. 273 in doubles. He previously held the world’s top junior ranking and won the Roland-Garros Junior title in 2022.

Kenta Miyoshi begins his final year at Illinois ranked No. 6 nationally in singles—his highest collegiate mark to date—and maintains a No. 2 spot with Debru in doubles. Last season, Miyoshi was named Big Ten Player of the Year, ITA All-American, First Team Academic All-American, and ITA National Player to Watch.

Senior William Mroz is ranked No. 40 in singles after entering the national listing last season and earning All-Big Ten Second Team honors. Mroz reached as high as No. 30 last year and led his team with 12 dual doubles victories.

In doubles, Tyler Bowers and Zach Viiala return to the ITA rankings at No. 54 after reaching as high as No. 52 last season and advancing to the finals at the ITA Midwest Regional.

Freshmen Adam Jilly (No. 10) and Hayden Jones (No. 11) were included among newcomers nationally recognized by ITA this preseason. Jilly has represented Hungary at Davis Cup events and achieved an ITF junior ranking of No. 111 along with multiple junior titles; he holds ATP career-highs of No. 1122 (singles) and No. 1076 (doubles). Jones arrives from Australia after being named that country's Junior Male Athlete of the Year for tennis in 2024; he has competed at all four junior Grand Slam tournaments and holds ATP bests of No. 970 (singles) and No. 602 (doubles).

Illinois is currently the only program nationwide with three players listed among men’s newcomers by ITA this preseason; it also joins Columbia as one of two programs featuring athletes ranked inside both singles’ top ten and doubles’ top ten.

Debru/Miyoshi represent Illinois' highest-ranked preseason doubles pair since Ross Guignon/Tim Kopinski were also ranked second nationally in 2014; Miyoshi is Illinois' highest-ranked singles player before a season since Aleks Kovacevic earned a similar mark for the Illini ahead of their campaign beginning in fall of 2019-20.

The full list of Illini placements:

Singles: Kenta Miyoshi (No.6), William Mroz (No.40), Gabriel Debru (No.72)

Doubles: Gabriel Debru/Kenta Miyoshi (No.2), Zach Viiala/Tyler Bowers (No.54)

Newcomers: Gabriel Debru (No.1), Adam Jilly (No.10), Hayden Jones (No.11)