Michigan
Illinois
Michigan's Series Win Streak Over Illinois Halted at Five
2/22/2025 11:25:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Site: Urbana, Ill. (Atkins Tennis Center)
Score: #20 Illinois 5, #12 Michigan 2
Records: U-M (5-5), Illinois (5-2)
Next U-M Event: Wednesday, Feb. 26 -- at Ohio State (Columbus, Ohio), 6 p.m.
URBANA, Ill. -- The No. 12-ranked University of Michigan men's tennis team fell to No. 20 Illinois, 5-2, in non-conference action on Saturday (Feb. 22) at the Atkins Tennis Center. The loss snapped a five-match win streak in the series for the Wolverines.
The Illini won the doubles point and the Wolverines opened singles play taking five of the six first sets. However, three of those matches were pushed to third sets, with Michigan losing all three.
Bjorn Swenson put Michigan on the board, winning the first singles match of the afternoon at No. 3. The junior defeated Jeremy Zhang by matching 6-4 scores.
Illinois regained the lead in the team score after winning a controversial No. 1 singles, but Patorn Hanchaikul brought it back to a tie, 2-2. He topped No. 119 Tyler Bowers 7-6 (6), 6-1, breaking him three times in the second set. It marks Hanchaikul's 40th career singles win and his second this season over a ranked opponent.
The Illini took matches at Nos. 6, 5 and 2 -- winning all three in third sets.
The final match before Big Ten play begins will be another non-conference matchup against a Big Ten foe as Michigan travels to Columbus, Ohio, to face Ohio State on Wednesday (Feb. 26) at 6 p.m.
Following are match-by-match results
Singles
No. 1 – No. 12 Kenta Miyoshi (Illinois) d. No. 55 Benjamin Kittay (U-M), 7-6 (4), 6-3
No. 2 – No. 45 William Mroz (Illinois) d. Will Cooksey (U-M), 4-6, 7-5, 6-2
No. 3 – Bjorn Swenson (U-M) d. Jeremy Zhang (Illinois), 6-4, 6-4
No. 4 – Patorn Hanchaikul (U-M) d. No. 119 Tyler Bowers (Illinois), 7-6 (6), 6-1
No. 5 – Mathis Debru (Illinois) d. Nicholas Steiglehner (U-M), 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
No. 6 – Zach Viala (Illinois) d. Alex Cairo (U-M), 4-6, 6-1, 6-3
Doubles
No. 1 – No. 70 Benjamin Kittay/Patorn Hanchaikul (U-M) vs. Zach Viala/Tyler Bowers (Illinois), 4-3 abandoned
No. 2 – William Mroz/Kenta Miyoshi (Illinois) d. Will Cooksey/Alex Cairo (U-M), 6-4
No. 3 – Mathis Debru/Max Mroz (Illinois) d. Bjorn Swenson/Mert Oral (U-M), 6-2
Order of Completion: Doubles 3-2, Singles 3-1-4-6-5-2
Players Mentioned
