University of Illinois
Harvard Chowderfest
Fighting Illini Start Fall Season at Harvard Chowderfest, ITA All-American Championships
September 17, 2026 | Men's Tennis
PREVIEW
| Illinois Heads to Two Collegiate Events to Start Fall Schedule | |
|---|---|
| Tournaments | Harvard Chowderfest // ITA All-American Championships |
| Date | Sept. 18-20 // Sept. 19-27 |
| Location | Cambridge, Mass. // Tulsa, Okla. |
| Tournament Sites | Harvard Chowderfest // ITA All-American Championships |
| Live Streams | Harvard Chowderfest // ITA All-American Championships |
| Live Scores | Harvard Chowderfest // ITA All-American Championships |
| Illinois | Roster | Schedule | 2025-26 Statistics |
| Shop | Fighting Illini Store |
| Social Media | X | Instagram | Facebook |
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Illini kick off their 2026 fall slate with two collegiate tournaments this weekend. Illinois student-athletes will compete at both the Harvard Chowderfest from Sept. 18-20 in Cambridge, Mass., and the ITA All-American Championships from Sept. 19-27 in Tulsa, Okla.
The Fighting Illini will send senior Colson Wells, sophomore David Bakonyi, and freshmen Jon Gamble and Nicholas Mekhael to the Harvard Chowderfest. Seniors Zach Viiala and Jeremy Zhang and sophomore Adam Jilly will compete at ITA All-Americans.
The Illini quartet heading to the East Coast will take part in both singles and doubles play, while the Orange and Blue trio making their way to Tulsa will start in pre-qualifying singles action on Saturday.
Wells will make his debut for the Illini after transferring from Nebraska. He brings with him a 31-22 career singles record, going 13-11 a season ago. Wells is 9-24 in doubles matches during his collegiate career.
Bakonyi is coming off a freshman campaign in which he went 4-2 in singles and 12-6 in doubles. In April, he reached No. 60 in the ITA double rankings and is set to begin the fall with a career-high No. 43 doubles listing.
Gamble will be making his collegiate debut after being ranked as the No. 8 American recruit, while Mekhael will debut for the Orange and Blue after being the No. 12 rated American recruit by Tennis Recruiting Network.
Viiala heads into the season with a 31-15 singles record and 30-32 doubles record, all at Illinois. He led the Illini in doubles wins last season. Zhang has a career mark of 43-36 in singles and 22-16 in doubles during his Illini career.
Jilly is coming off a Big Ten All-Freshman Team campaign in which he went 23-14 in singles and 6-9 in doubles.
The ITA All-American Championships serves as a pathway to the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships, scheduled for Nov. 18-22 in Athens, Georgia. A total of 10 singles players and five doubles pairings will earn automatic bids to the NCAA Championships through this event.
All eight main draw quarterfinalists in singles, along with two feed-in consolation finalists, will qualify for the NCAA Singles Championship field, while the four doubles semifinalist teams and the consolation champion will secure bids to the NCAA Doubles Championship.
