NEW YORK – No. 25 Illinois secured its first dual win of the season with a 4-2 victory over No. 23 Kentucky on Saturday afternoon in New York.
The sides met in the consolation round of ITA Kickoff Weekend play, with the Fighting Illini using singles wins at No. 1, 2, 4, and 6 to clinch the triumph. The Wildcats picked up the doubles point and a win at No. 3, while Court 5 went unfinished.
"Some of the toughest matches are playing in consolation of ITA Indoors," said head coach Brad Dancer. "Our doubles today was down-right pathetic, so this team had to take a look at itself and see where they wanted to be in singles. It was a great response from us, led by senior Will Mroz, who did a great job of figuring out the wrinkles in his match.
"It was a really cool moment for freshman Gabriel Debru to fight off match point and keep coming forward and playing aggressive to have a chance at his first match-clinching win for the Illini. We are really excited about all the promotions we are doing for the Duke match. We can't wait to have an amazing crowd there for what will be our next great challenge."
The Wildcats took a 1-0 advantage into singles play after claiming the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and 2.
Both teams won three first sets in singles, but Hayden Jones quickly took care of business on Court 6 with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Martin Breysach. Breaking three times in the opening frame, Jones repeated that feat in the second set en route to the first dual singles triumph of his career.
After Kentucky retook the lead with a win at No. 3 singles, William Mroz secured his second singles triumph of the weekend with a straight-set decision over Jaden Weekes on 4. A break in the eighth game was the difference in the opening frame before going up multiple breaks in the second set. Despite getting broken late, Mroz served out his 6-4, 6-4 victory to even the dual at 2-2.
The score was not tied for long, though. After Sasha Colleu and Gabriel Debru both forced third sets on their respective courts, Kenta Miyoshi used that momentum to overcome a late deficit and pick up his first singles win of the spring.
Miyoshi tallied breaks in the fifth and ninth games of the first set before heading to a tiebreaker in the second frame. Facing a 5-2 deficit, the Illini senior closed the gap to 5-4 before Kentucky's Antoine Ghibaudo had two set points. Miyoshi accounted for the final four points of the match, though, sealing a 6-3, 7-6(6) triumph and giving Illinois a 3-2 edge in the dual.
Debru ultimately clinched the Illini's win with his three-set comeback at No. 2 singles against Nicolas Arseneault. Dropping the opening frame, 6-4, the Frenchman bounced back in the second set, winning the tiebreaker after fighting off two match points as both players held serve throughout the stanza. Breaking in the second and fourth games of the deciding set, Debru posted the first clinch of his career and his second dual singles win of the weekend, 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-1.
RESULTS
Doubles
No. 1: Martin Breysach/Antoine Ghibaudo (Kentucky) def. Adam Jilly/Kenta Miyoshi (Illinois), 6-1
No. 2: Nicolas Arseneault/Jaden Weekes (Kentucky) def. Gabriel Debru/Sasha Colleu (Illinois), 6-0
No. 3: William Mroz/Tyler Bowers (Illinois) vs. Eli Stephenson/Mikael Arseneault (Kentucky), 2-4, unfinished
Order of finish: 2, 1
Singles
No. 1: No. 10 Kenta Miyoshi (Illinois) def. Antoine Ghibaudo (Kentucky), 6-3, 7-6(6)
No. 2: Gabriel Debru (Illinois) def. Nicolas Arseneault (Kentucky), 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-1
No. 3: No. 19 Eli Stephenson (Kentucky) def. No. 87 Adam Jilly (Illinois), 6-4, 6-1
No. 4: William Mroz (Illinois) def. Jaden Weekes (Kentucky), 6-4, 6-4
No. 5: Sasha Colleu (Illinois) vs. No. 124 Mikael Arseneault (Kentucky), 6-7(5), 6-3, 3-4, unfinished
No. 6: Hayden Jones (Illinois) def. Martin Breysach (Kentucky), 6-1, 6-0
Order of finish: 6, 3, 4, 1, 2
UP NEXT
No. 25 Illinois returns home to host No. 18 Duke on Friday night for the team's Hail to the Orange Out match. The Illini and the Blue Devils will begin battle at 6 p.m. CT at Atkins Tennis Center.
