STANFORD, Calif. – Fighting Illini men's tennis dropped a 4-2 decision to the Stanford Cardinal on Monday afternoon. Illinois is now 9-8 overall this season.

In doubles action, freshman Vuk Budic and junior Aleks Vukic defeated the Cardinal's No. 67-ranked duo of Kumar and Genender 7-5 on court two. Stanford took the second match on court one with Fawcett and Goldberg's 6-4 victory over freshman Aleks Kovacevic and redshirt-senior Alex Jesse. The Cardinal clinched the point on court three as Illini freshmen Zeke Clark and Gui Gomes fell to Wilczynski and Sutter, 7-5.

Stanford extended the Cardinal's advantage with two singles wins on courts four and five. Clark was defeated by Brandon Sutter, 6-2, 6-2 and redshirt-senior Julian Childers fell to David Wilczynski, 6-1, 6-2. Vukic put Illinois on the board with a dominating, 6-3, 6-0 win over Stanford's No. 15-ranked Tom Fawcett, 6-3, 6-0. The Illini junior is currently on an 11-match winning streak in singles.

Kovacevic earned Illinois another point with his 6-3, 6-2 victory over No. 99-ranked Michael Genender. In the end, Budic fell to Genesen on court six as Stanford clinched the match win, 4-2.

Up next, Illinois will conclude a five-match road stretch this week. Illinois travels to a pair of Big Ten foes beginning with the Minnesota Gophers on Friday night at 6 p.m. CT. The Illini will conclude the road swing with the Wisconsin Badgers at noon on Sunday in Madison.

Head Coach Brad Dancer's Thoughts

"For our program and for the standards we set, this is a disappointing road trip. I do think we are learning and growing in areas but then we sometimes take steps back. As a team, we have the players. We have to find the right combinations for doubles play and the coaches have to get more out of our guys. It's no use saying we are better than this unless we begin performing. It's time."

Final Results

Stanford 4, Illinois 2

Doubles-Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3*

1. Fawcett/Goldberg (Stanford) def. Jesse/Kovacevic (Illinois) 6-4
2. Budic/Vukic (Illinois) def. #67 Kumar/Genender (Stanford) 7-5 
3. Wilczynski/Sutter (Stanford) def. Clark/Gomes (Illinois) 7-5

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

1. #20 Aleks Vukic (Illinois) def. #15 Tom Fawcett (Stanford) 6-3, 6-0
2. Gui Gomes (Illinois) vs. #115 Sameer Kumar (Stanford) 7-5, 4-4, unf.
3. Aleks Kovacevic (Illinois) def. #99 Michael Genender (Stanford) 6-3, 6-2
4. David Wilczynski (Stanford) def. Julian Childers (Illinois) 6-1, 6-2
5. Brandon Sutter (Stanford) def. Zeke Clark (Illinois) 6-2, 6-2
6. William Genesen (Stanford) def. Vuk Budic (Illinois) 6-4, 6-4

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