NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State men's tennis team will officially open the 2025-26 season at its first team tournament of the fall this weekend, when the Redbirds head north to compete in the River Forest Collegiate Tennis Invitational hosted by Northern Illinois.
Play starts with doubles both days at 9:15 a.m., with two rounds of singles on Friday and the championship round of singles on Saturday starting at approximately 1 p.m. The tournament will be held at the River Forest Tennis Club, with some matches also taking place at the Oak Park Tennis Center.Â
"The guys have been putting in a lot of hours the last couple of weeks and are eager to get out there and play matches," ISU head coach Maja Kovacek said. "This will be my first opportunity to see them compete and I'm really excited to get a sense of our potential and what we'll need to do to have a great season."
The Redbirds will be competing against Drake, Marquette, Northern Illinois, Saint Louis, UIC, Washington University and Western Michigan over the weekend. The entire tournament will be played on clay courts and is free and open to the public.
This will be the first of three tournaments during the fall season for the Redbird men's program. Following this weekend's tournament, ISU will host the three-day Redbird Invitational (October 3-5) outdoors at the Gregory Street Tennis Courts, with the Evergreen Racquet Club on standby in case of inclement weather. The fall season will then conclude in Chicago, as the Redbirds compete in the ITA Regionals (Oct. 16-19).
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