Box Score 

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Illinois men's tennis team defeated the Duke Blue Devils, 4-3 on Friday night at the Atkins Tennis Center. Freshman Gui Gomes clinched the match on court three in the third set. Illinois improves to 2-1 on the season.

"I am incredibly proud of the guys tonight," said head coach Brad Dancer. "Any of these matches, you really aren't looking at being down, 3-1, you are looking at each match, individually. I think in every one of those, we felt okay where we were. It was great how the guys stayed within themselves and kept themselves composed down the stretch. This is what sports are all about: toughness, grittiness, hanging in there and a lot of resiliency. I am super proud of this team and how well Cos (Marcos) and Ross (Guignon) coached tonight."

Duke jumped to an early 1-0 lead in the match after grabbing the doubles point. Duke's Catalin Mateas and Vincent Lin defeated Gomes and junior Aron Hiltzik, 6-2 on court one. Nick Stachowiak and Spencer Furman clinched the point for Duke on court two with a 7-5 win over freshman Vuk Budic and redshirt-senior Alex Jesse.

Junior Aleks Vukic was the first off the singles court on Friday night after a quick 6-4, 6-1 win over Vincent Lin on court one. Duke would grab two quick points from courts four and six. Stachowiak defeated freshman Aleks Kovacevic, 6-2, 6-4 on court four. TJ Pura downed fellow-freshman Zeke Clark, 6-3, 6-3 on court six.

Illinois would begin the comeback from the 3-1 disadvantage with Hiltzik's 6-4, 7-6(3) win over Catalin Mateas on court two. Redshirt-senior Julian Childers used three sets to defeat Spencer Furman, 6-4, 0-6, 6-4 at the No. 5 position to tie up the team score. 

At three-all, the match was down to the freshman, Gomes, and Duke's Robert Levine. Gomes took the first set 6-3. Levine would force a third set with an 8-6 tiebreak in the second. The Newport Beach, Calif. native fell behind in the third set, 2-0, but took three straight points to grab a 3-2 advantage. Gomes would once again trail at 5-4, but a break, hold and yet another break of Levine's serve would clinch the match for Gomes and the victory for Illinois.

"It was cool environment," said Dancer.  "You have a great crowd. It is super loud in this building and it was all down in the corner pocket. Everyone was looking at three and five and all of the energy is down there. It's kind of like a bull ring, if you will, and was kind of what the match turned into tonight. It was cool. Julian has waited a long time and has been through a lot, so for him to have that moment and give Gui a chance. What a remarkable job by him to stay calm and what a remarkable job by Cos (Marcos Asse) and Ross (Guignon) to manage those matches and do an outstanding job of coaching those two guys"

Up next, the Illini are right back at Atkins Tennis Center on Saturday night as they host the No. 7-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels at 6 p.m.

Final Results

#17 Illinois 4, Duke 3

Doubles-Order of Finish: 1, 2*

1. Mateas/Lin (Duke) def. Gomes/Hiltzik (Illinois) 6-2
2. Stachowiak /Furman (Duke) def. Budic/Jesse (Illinois) 7-5
3. Kovacevic/Vukic (Illinois) vs. Dickerson/Levine (Duke) 5-5, unf.

Singles-Order of Finish: 1, 4, 6, 2, 5, 3*

1. Aleks Vukic (Illinois) def. Lin (Duke) 6-4, 6-1
2. #29 Aron Hiltzik (Illinois) def. Mateas (Duke) 6-4, 7-6(3)
3. #100 Gui Gomes (Illinois) def. Levine (Duke) 6-3, 6-7(6), 7-5
4. Stachowiak (Duke) def. #85 Aleks Kovacevic (Illinois) 6-2, 6-4
5. Julian Childers (Illinois) def. Furman (Duke) 6-4, 0-6, 6-4
6. Pura (Duke) def. Zeke Clark (Illinois) 6-3, 6-3

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