NORMAL, Ill. – The road swing to open the 2021 season for the Illinois State men's tennis team continues this weekend a little closer to home, as the Redbirds travel north up I-55 to take on UIC Saturday at 6 p.m. at the Hinsdale Racquet Club.
"This weekend should be a great match for us playing against a scrappy UIC team," ISU head coach Mark Klysner said. "The last two years we've won 4-3 matches and it's been very dramatic in coming down to the last match to decide it and I expect the same this weekend. The doubles point will be key in getting the momentum in our favor. Either way it should be a good match again this year."
The Redbirds are coming off a busy weekend that saw them travel to Tulsa, Oklahoma, for a match against Tulsa and to Fayetteville, Arkansas, for a showdown with SEC foe Arkansas. The Redbirds are looking for their first team victory of the season and hope to have a similar result as their last match against UIC. On February 15 last year, the Flames got an early lead with the doubles point, but Melker Isaakson earned a win at the No. 4 singles spot to secure the match for the Redbirds, with Nam Pham, Pol Botifoll Rius and Diego Le Gal Perez also picking up victories for ISU.
UIC will be seeing its first action of the season this weekend, as the Flames return to the courts Friday against DePaul before hosting the Redbirds on Saturday. UIC's 2020-21 squad includes the team's leading winner in singles play last season, Pelle Strandberg, and fellow junior Anthony Nguyen. He and redshirt sophomore Luiz Dos Santos each had four singles wins last season, and paired together in doubles play three times.
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