Virginia Falls 4-3 at No. 9 Illinois
March 4, 2018
URBANA, Ill. – The Virginia men’s tennis team (6-5, 0-1 ACC) fell 4-3 to No. 9 Illinois (8-4, 0-0 Big Ten) on Sunday (March 4) at the Atkins Tennis Center in Urbana, Ill.
Illinois won the doubles point, picking up wins on courts two and three, but the Cavaliers tied the match with a win from freshman Matthew Lord (Bloomfield, Conn.) in singles on court five. Illinois picked up singles victories on courts two, five and six to clinch the match, but sophomore Carl Soderlund (Stockholm, Sweden) and freshman Gianni Ross (Chicago, Ill.) battled through tiebreakers to come up with victories on courts one and three to make it a 4-3 final.
Lord made quick work of Noe Khlif on court five, cruising to a 6-2, 6-3 victory to knot the match at 1-1. S̮ծԮԦderlund, who has been sidelined with an injury through much of the spring season, picked up his second win of the weekend, edging No. 23 Aleks Vukic in tiebreakers to determine both his first and second sets, winning 7-6 (4), 7-6 (7). Ross had won his first set, 6-3, but dropped his second 7-5 to Aleks Kovacevic to send the match into a super tiebreaker, which Ross won 10-8 to earn a point for the Cavaliers.
Junior Aswin Lizen (Douglas, Isle of Man) battled back after dropping his first set, 6-2, to top Alex Brown 6-3 in the second set, but Brown won 6-1 in the third to clinch the match for the Illini.
Virginia will be on the road again next week, traveling to take on UCF at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla., on Sunday, March 11 at 1 p.m. The Cavaliers return home on Friday, March 16, hosting Boston College at 3 p.m. at the Snyder Tennis Center.
#9 Illinois 4, Virginia 3
Singles competition
1. Carl Soderlund (VA) def. #23 Aleks Vukic (UI) 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (9-7)
2. #116 Alex Brown (UI) def. #18 Aswin Lizen (VA) 6-2, 3-6, 6-1
3. Gianni Ross (VA) def. #116 Aleks Kovacevic (UI) 6-3, 5-7, 1-0 (10-8)
4. #83 Zeke Clark (UI) def. Ammar Alhaqbani (VA) 6-4, 6-2
5. Matthew Lord (VA) def. Noe Khlif (UI) 6-2, 6-3
6. Caleb Chakravarthi (UI) def. Kyrylo Tsygura (VA) 6-1, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. Aleks Vukic/Aron Hiltzik (UI) vs. Aswin Lizen/Gianni Ross (VA) 3-4, unfinished
2. Zeke Clark/Aleks Kovacevic (UI) def. Ammar Alhaqbani/Matthew Lord (VA) 6-0
3. Alex Brown/Caleb Chakravarthi (UI) def. Carl Soderlund/Kyrylo Tsygura (VA) 6-2
Order of finish: Doubles (2-3); Singles (5,6,4,2,3,1)
T-2:13 A-457