Illini Tennis

#2      
With the announcement of non-revenue sports re-starting, they finally posted the 2020-21 rosters. Looking at the men's tennis roster, there appears to be some good news and potentially some bad news for this year's team.

Aleks Kovacevic is listed on the roster, which is a good sign that he might be coming back for one more year. Zeke Clark and Vuk Budic already said they were coming back, so it looks like their top five of Kovacevic, Brown, Clark, Montsi and Budic could stay intact. On top of that, Khlif is back after a redshirt year. The only player missing from last year's team is Gomes, but he had said he was moving on, so that is not a surprise.

The only player that is missing that should be there is Ryoma Matsushita, this year's top recruit. Does anyone know what's up with him, because I couldn't find anything. He is from Japan, but I think he was training in the United States.

I also learned that Dancer has a commitment from Gabrielius Guzauskas, a top-10 recruit for 2021. He is training in Florida, but he's originally from Downers Grove.

https://fightingillini.com/sports/mens-tennis/roster
 
#3      
With the announcement of non-revenue sports re-starting, they finally posted the 2020-21 rosters. Looking at the men's tennis roster, there appears to be some good news and potentially some bad news for this year's team.

Aleks Kovacevic is listed on the roster, which is a good sign that he might be coming back for one more year. Zeke Clark and Vuk Budic already said they were coming back, so it looks like their top five of Kovacevic, Brown, Clark, Montsi and Budic could stay intact. On top of that, Khlif is back after a redshirt year. The only player missing from last year's team is Gomes, but he had said he was moving on, so that is not a surprise.

The only player that is missing that should be there is Ryoma Matsushita, this year's top recruit. Does anyone know what's up with him, because I couldn't find anything. He is from Japan, but I think he was training in the United States.

I also learned that Dancer has a commitment from Gabrielius Guzauskas, a top-10 recruit for 2021. He is training in Florida, but he's originally from Downers Grove.

https://fightingillini.com/sports/mens-tennis/roster
Thanks. I sure hope that Kovacevic is back. If healthy, he is a legitimate national champion candidate.
 
#4      
With the announcement of non-revenue sports re-starting, they finally posted the 2020-21 rosters. Looking at the men's tennis roster, there appears to be some good news and potentially some bad news for this year's team.

Aleks Kovacevic is listed on the roster, which is a good sign that he might be coming back for one more year. Zeke Clark and Vuk Budic already said they were coming back, so it looks like their top five of Kovacevic, Brown, Clark, Montsi and Budic could stay intact. On top of that, Khlif is back after a redshirt year. The only player missing from last year's team is Gomes, but he had said he was moving on, so that is not a surprise.

The only player that is missing that should be there is Ryoma Matsushita, this year's top recruit. Does anyone know what's up with him, because I couldn't find anything. He is from Japan, but I think he was training in the United States.

I also learned that Dancer has a commitment from Gabrielius Guzauskas, a top-10 recruit for 2021. He is training in Florida, but he's originally from Downers Grove.

https://fightingillini.com/sports/mens-tennis/roster

I didn't see this announcement, can you share a link?
 
#5      
I didn't see this announcement, can you share a link?

There wasn't any big announcement; that was a poor choice of words. I just saw that they released the volleyball schedules and I assumed that meant other non-revenue sports would be competing as well.

I did just read an article from a week ago (see link below) that said Dancer does not expect to compete in the fall but is confident they will start up in the spring. That's not really a big deal for tennis, since tennis is mainly a spring sport and many players focus on pro tournaments in the fall anyway.

https://247sports.com/college/illin...-Illini-Brad-Dancer-Minnesota-Iowa-151523375/
 
#6      
Just guessing here (hopeful thinking?), perhaps Matsushita is playing in professional events in the fall while planning to join the team in the spring. Even before covid, the fall season was pretty meaningless and that goes double this year. I believe Vukic did this at least one year.
 
#7      
Just guessing here (hopeful thinking?), perhaps Matsushita is playing in professional events in the fall while planning to join the team in the spring. Even before covid, the fall season was pretty meaningless and that goes double this year. I believe Vukic did this at least one year.

That's what I'm hoping
 
#8      
With the announcement of non-revenue sports re-starting, they finally posted the 2020-21 rosters. Looking at the men's tennis roster, there appears to be some good news and potentially some bad news for this year's team.

Aleks Kovacevic is listed on the roster, which is a good sign that he might be coming back for one more year. Zeke Clark and Vuk Budic already said they were coming back, so it looks like their top five of Kovacevic, Brown, Clark, Montsi and Budic could stay intact. On top of that, Khlif is back after a redshirt year. The only player missing from last year's team is Gomes, but he had said he was moving on, so that is not a surprise.

The only player that is missing that should be there is Ryoma Matsushita, this year's top recruit. Does anyone know what's up with him, because I couldn't find anything. He is from Japan, but I think he was training in the United States.

I also learned that Dancer has a commitment from Gabrielius Guzauskas, a top-10 recruit for 2021. He is training in Florida, but he's originally from Downers Grove.

https://fightingillini.com/sports/mens-tennis/roster
Matsushita is a Duck: https://goducks.com/news/2020/10/5/mens-tennis-juniors-standout-matsushita-joins-ducks.aspx
 
#11      
With the announcement of non-revenue sports re-starting, they finally posted the 2020-21 rosters. Looking at the men's tennis roster, there appears to be some good news and potentially some bad news for this year's team.

Aleks Kovacevic is listed on the roster, which is a good sign that he might be coming back for one more year. Zeke Clark and Vuk Budic already said they were coming back, so it looks like their top five of Kovacevic, Brown, Clark, Montsi and Budic could stay intact. On top of that, Khlif is back after a redshirt year. The only player missing from last year's team is Gomes, but he had said he was moving on, so that is not a surprise.

The only player that is missing that should be there is Ryoma Matsushita, this year's top recruit. Does anyone know what's up with him, because I couldn't find anything. He is from Japan, but I think he was training in the United States.

I also learned that Dancer has a commitment from Gabrielius Guzauskas, a top-10 recruit for 2021. He is training in Florida, but he's originally from Downers Grove.

https://fightingillini.com/sports/mens-tennis/roster
Did Kova officially announce his return? Where did you see the Guzauskas commitment?
 
#13      
Did Kova officially announce his return? Where did you see the Guzauskas commitment?

I didn't see an official announcement of his return, but he's still on the roster and they removed all of the other people who are not coming back. All indications appear to me that if they have a season he will be competing for Illinois, or at the very least he has not ruled it out.

Here is where I saw the Guzauskas commitment reported:
 
#14      
I didn't see an official announcement of his return, but he's still on the roster and they removed all of the other people who are not coming back. All indications appear to me that if they have a season he will be competing for Illinois, or at the very least he has not ruled it out.

Here is where I saw the Guzauskas commitment reported:
He signed. We need three or four more to make up for those graduating.
 
#19      
USC is ranked #1 nationally. More work to do as every (?) team in this tourney is ranked in top ten except for Illinois which is not ranked.
Anybody watch the thrilling come from behind victory over Virginia last night? Even more impressive was the fact that they got it done without Kova (who apparently was on his way to compete in a futures event in Naples, FL).
 
#20      

GrayGhost77

Centennial, CO
Anybody watch the thrilling come from behind victory over Virginia last night? Even more impressive was the fact that they got it done without Kova (who apparently was on his way to compete in a futures event in Naples, FL).
Impressive! These guys should definitely be ranked, and possibly in the top 10, when next rankings come out.
 
#22      
The women's team, on the other hand, has been really disappointing. Their recruiting has been great, but their results keep getting worse. They started the season with losses to Iowa and Nebraska and neither match was really close :(
 
#23      
Anybody watch the thrilling come from behind victory over Virginia last night? Even more impressive was the fact that they got it done without Kova (who apparently was on his way to compete in a futures event in Naples, FL).
Impressive! These guys should definitely be ranked, and possibly in the top 10, when next rankings come out.
They beat two top ten teams including #1 USC. Baylor was also top ten and though they beat us 4-0, we were competitive in several of the matches.
 
#24      
The women's team, on the other hand, has been really disappointing. Their recruiting has been great, but their results keep getting worse. They started the season with losses to Iowa and Nebraska and neither match was really close :(
Rabinowitz hasn't played yet this year. Injured ? Also the transfer from Minnesota, Huber, isn't on the roster. They would have played # 2 & 3 for us.
 
#25      
Rabinowitz hasn't played yet this year. Injured ? Also the transfer from Minnesota, Huber, isn't on the roster. They would have played # 2 & 3 for us.

Yeah, missing those two definitely hurts, but they still have plenty of talent on the roster